Pokémon: Poppy's Passage
by em-ily8458
Summary: Poppy Smith, a fourteen year old girl from a small Johto town, sets out on her Pokémon journey with her best pals at her side. Follow her on her journey, where she learns about Pokémon, people, friendships, relationships, how to handle dopey Team Rocket members and most importantly, herself. (OC's wanted, form in Chapter One!)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, this is my first Pokémon fic on here, so please be kind! this story features OC Poppy Smith and her Dratini, mainly. There will be many other OC's, but also many characters from the anime. Will be written in order, but I'm only going to write the parts I consider exciting enough to publish. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and if you have any OC's you'd like featured in this, please let me know! **

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Poppy Smith, a fourteen year old girl with wine-colored hair, sat by the edge of a pond, clearly deep in thought. Her feet dangled into the pond, as she kicked gently at the water, and watched her Pokémon best friend, Dratini, splash and play about in the pond. With a sigh, she hung her head, and shoved her free hair behind her ears. Sensing that its trainer was upset in some sort of way, Dratini swam over and nuzzled Poppy's legs. For a moment, she seemed to cheer up, seeing that she smiled and gave the Pokémon a pat on the head. Dratini slithered out of the water and curled up next to her, resting its head in her lap.

"You look like something's bothering you," came a voice from behind her. It was her older brother, Pokémon researcher and former Johto League Champion, Mitchell Smith. "What's on your mind?"

Turning to her brother while clutching Chinchou to her chest, and opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't. Mitchell took a breath and took a seat in the grass next to his younger sister. They shared the same wine-colored hair, though his was neatly tied in a small ponytail, while hers was wild. Though they looked similar, that was all that was similar between the two siblings. He was confident, strong but silent, and wise beyond his years. She was shy, not at all confident, and didn't know of her own wisdom. In fact, that was her foible - she lacked any confidence whatsoever, even if she had plenty to have confidence in.

"C'mon, Poppy, I'm your big brother," Mitchell said. "I know when there's something on your mind."

For a minute, there was silence. Poppy stared straight ahead, at the view off the mountain they all lived on. She looked over the beautiful Johto forests that seemed to stretch forever on the ground off of the mountains, and wondered what lay beyond them. She'd rarely been off of the mountain. Of course, she'd been into Rowan Town, which lay in the valley on the south side of the mountain, but that was it. She always wished to see the rest of Johto, like her brother did, when he went on his Pokémon journey.

Finally, she just blurted it out, and bursted, "I want to go on a Pokémon journey, like you did."

"That's great!" Mitchell exclaimed, giving his little sister a quick hug. Looking down at her, he asked, "So, when are you gonna go?"

Again, Poppy hesitated, chewing her bottom lip as she hugged Dratini in her lap.

After what seemed like an eternity to Mitchell, Poppy finally responded, "I don't know if I'm going to go."

"What do you mean?!" inquired Mitchell, looking completely shocked. "Why wouldn't you go? It'd be great! You'd be great!"

"But I'm not you," Poppy mumbled. She was just barely able to look at her brother through the corner of her eye. "Dratini and I aren't like you and Muk. Sure, Dratini's an amazing Pokémon, but I don't think I have it in me to be a great trainer like you, Mitchell. I don't think I can do it."

"Don't say that!" Mitchell told her. He even leapt to his feet, because he felt so strongly that his sister could do it. "You're great with Pokémon. You and Dratini are as close as a trainer and a Pokémon could be, and that just goes to prove my point about how great you are with Pokémon. Besides, if you never go on a Pokémon journey, then you'll never know what kind of trainer you are. And if you never go, you'll always wonder what it would have been like, and you'll regret it. I don't want you to have to regret anything, Poppy."

"You really think that?" Poppy asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, of course," Mitchell assured her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he added, "I believe in you, 100%, Poppy. And I think you should go on that Pokémon journey of yours."

With a strange and sudden burst of confidence, Poppy leapt to her feet, still clutching Dratini, and exclaimed, "You're right! I should go on a Pokémon journey!"

"Yes, you should!" Mitchell encouraged her. "And now that you've said it, it's settled. You're going the day after tomorrow. That's that."

"What?" Poppy asked, suddenly crashing down to reality. She wanted to go, but in two days? Maybe not so soon.

"It's now or never," Mitchell said. "Knowing you, you'd change your mind in two days, unless you actually left for your Pokémon journey. I can't let you change your mind, so you're going to go."

"But...who'll help you with the lab?" Poppy questioned. Mitchell happened to run one of the most prominent research labs in all of Johto, and Poppy was his dedicated and dutiful assistant. Showing her worry, she continued with a string of questions. "Who'll feed all the Pokémon? Who'll make sure that Cubone's bone gets polished? And who'll recharge all the Magnemite and Magneton when they're running low on electricity? Who'll see to it that Onix and Steelix get polished every week? Who'll brush all the Mareep and give that one Butterfree its special fruit diet? What about making sure that the Gloom get perfect amounts of sunlight and water? And counting all the Shellder and Cloyster? What about making sure Alakazam has good spoons?"

Again, Mitchell set his hand on Poppy's shoulder, attempting to shake some sense into her, as he said, "There are always a million reasons not to do something, Poppy. You shouldn't worry about the Pokémon and me, we'll be fine. I know I can take care of them on my own until you return. You need to do this. You need to go on this Pokémon journey."

"Mm," Poppy nodded. She was just starting to realize how right her brother was. She knew she needed to go, but now she really knew. "I do. And I will. I'll go."

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**Send in your OC's via PM or review! Here's the form!**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Hometown:**

**Looks/Clothing:**

**Personality:**

**Trainer, Coordinator, Regular Citizen, Researcher, or other profession? (If Trainer/Coordinator, how many badges/ribbons does he/she have?)**

**Pokémon: (up to 6, order by preference, please)**

**That's it! Thanks so much for reading and supporting!**


	2. Chapter 2

On the morning of the day that Poppy Smith and her Dratini were set to leave, the two of them sat on the front porch of the log cabin that served as their home and the research lab. Dratini curled up by its trainer's side and rested its head in her lap. The two looked out over the mountain and at the sunrise. They'd seen it a hundred times, seeing that they were always the first two up to start the chores and start to take care of the Pokémon. Even though Poppy and Dratini had seen this sight so many times, something about this one was different. Poppy supposed it was because she knew it'd be the last sunrise she'd see at home for quite awhile.

"Here's your things, Poppy," came Mitchell, who came outside from the front door behind her. He had a very full backpack in tow, and a deep blue PokéDex in hand. He set the backpack down at her side, and handed her the PokéDex, which she glanced down at as he added, "It's a PokéDex. You can use it as an ID, and to identify any Pokémon you see on your journey. It's quite the tool."

"Thanks," Poppy said, standing to give her brother a hug. After slinging her backpack on her back, she added, "I'll miss you."

"And I'll miss you too," Mitchell replied. "But I don't want any of this mushy stuff. Get going, little sis."

"Mm," she nodded. With Dratini slithering after her, Poppy started down the stairs and out the yard, toward the path down the mountain.

She and Dratini took a glance over their shoulders, as Poppy called, "Goodbye, Mitch! I'll see you!"

"I'll see you, Poppy!" Mitchell replied. "Good luck to you and Dratini! I know you'll both be great!"

A couple of hours later, Poppy and Dratini were trying to navigate their way through the woods at the base of the mountain that they had lived their whole lives on. While Dratini slithered along her side, Poppy glanced back and forth between the map in the guidebook Mitchell had given her and the path they walked along. She wasn't too good with directions.

"Think we'll ever make it out of Rowan Town?" Poppy questioned, with playful desperation tainting her tone. Dratini let out a hopeful kind of noise as a response. Poppy smiled down at her Pokémon friend.

She was thinking of what to say next, when a loud rustling in a nearby bush caught her attention, as well as Dratini's. Immediately, Poppy thought it was a Pokémon, so she held her finger to her lips to indicate for Dratini to be quiet. Tiptoeing, Poppy went to the bush and peered over it, Dratini at her side. The two looked over the bush and into a tiny clearing, where a Chikorita was happily munching away on a bright red apple. Poppy's eyes glittered, as she dreamed of catching her first wild Pokémon with Dratini at her side.

Looking back to her Pokémon best friend, Poppy questioned in a whisper, "What d'ya think, Dratini? Should we catch it and add another member to our team?" With a kind of smile, Dratini nodded, and let out a little cry in agreement. Poppy smiled back at it, with an excited kind of nod, as she prepared herself. She and Dratini leapt over the bush, startling the Chikorita, as they prepared to catch it.

"Ok, Dratini, Body Slam, let's go!" Poppy commanded enthusiastically.

As Dratini went to launch the attack on Chikorita, it let out a wail, a kind of battle cry, before it slammed Chikorita back into a tree. However, that didn't deter the little Grass-type Pokémon. If anything, it only made it angry, though it had clearly sustained injuries from the attack. As it rose to its feet, it wailed, and launched a Razor Leaf attack back at Dratini.

"Agility away from it!" Poppy countered.

Dratini listened, gracefully speeding away from each and every Razor Leaf that came its way. This took Chikorita off guard, who now didn't know what to do that its Razor Leaf attack had failed. It looked stunned as it watched Dratini speed around it.

"Now, Dragon Tail!" Poppy called.

Dratini wailed again, as it slammed the little Chikorita with a Dragon Tail attack. This really took Chikorita off guard, and off its feet, but it struggled to get up. Poppy called for one more Dragon Tail, which really knocked Chikorita out cold. Quickly, she rushed to pull out one of her PokéBalls, and threw it at the unconscious Pokémon. She and Dratini waited, watching, as the PokéBall flashed red on and off, as it rolled a bit back and forth on the ground. It felt like an eternity before the PokéBall stopped, and Chikorita was successfully captured.

"Yes!" Poppy cried happily, as she raced to grab her PokéBall. She jumped in the air, laughing, as she yelled, "Yes! We did it! We caught Chikorita!"

Dratini let out a happy kind of screech, as Poppy cradled her PokéBall against her cheek. The smile on her face was the biggest one she'd ever mustered in her life. She felt proud - extremely proud. She and Dratini had just caught their first Pokémon together, and she couldn't have been happier in that moment. It was just the start of their journey together, but it gave Poppy hope that she and Dratini could actually do it, that they could actually make it as a Pokémon-Trainer team.

She knew they could do it.


	3. Chapter 3

After spending a night in a sleeping bag under the stars cuddled with Dratini, Poppy awoke to the sun shining through the trees. With a slight yawn, she rubbed her eyes as she came into consciousness. Dratini was just waking up too, but came to consciousness quicker than its trainer. So, it gave Poppy an affectionate nudge to wake her up, and said good morning with a little squeal.

"Good morning, Dratini," Poppy greeted, still half-asleep.

She gave Dratini a small hug, before rolling out of the sleeping bag. Standing up in the clearing that she'd slept in, she threw on her short sleeved navy blue jacket. She brushed through her waist-length, wine-colored hair with her fingers, and then put on her light blue and green baseball cap backwards, as she always did. She kneeled back down on the ground as Dratini slithered out of the sleeping bag, and rolled it up to put back in the bag.

"What d'ya say, want some breakfast?" Poppy inquired. Sort of smiling, Dratini nodded. Poppy then asked, "Would you mind going to get some wood so we can start a fire?"

Dratini squealed again, as if to say yes, and went off into the bushes to find firewood in the woods, leaving Poppy behind in the small clearing. She set some stones into a circular pattern to eventually put the fire in, and then sat, falling back on her bottom so she could sit cross-legged. Reaching for the belt that held her grayish jeans up, she pulled off Chikorita's PokéBall. She'd painted the top of it green, over what was originally red, so she'd know it was Chikorita's. She'd also painted Dratini's PokéBall blue on the top, the same blue that Dratini was, even if it didn't spend too much time in the PokéBall.

"Come out and face the day, Chikorita," Poppy said.

She released her first-caught Pokémon, and watched as it materialized before her eyes. The Pokémon looked somewhat confused, or taken off guard, perhaps. It looked to its new trainer with a kind of apprehension of sorts, though Poppy only smiled at it. She reached out to pet and hold Chikorita, but it jumped back away from her. Confused, she again reached out for the Pokémon, but was only able to brush her fingers against its leg. Immediately, Chikorita yelped in pain and leapt backwards and away from its trainer. Poppy felt a rush of guilt after noticing she'd touched a battle wound that Chikorita still hadn't recovered from, but it was too late. The Grass-type Pokémon had already sprinted off into the woods, crying.

"Chikorita!" Poppy yelled, as she leapt to her feet herself. "Chikorita, come back!"

Just as she readied herself to run after the Pokémon, Dratini turned with some twigs to make a fire with. It dropped the twigs as soon as it noticed how concerned its trainer was, slithered over to her as fast as possible, and let out a questioning and concerned squeal as it looked to Poppy.

"Chikorita ran away," Poppy informed Dratini with a worried edge in her voice. "It's hurt and all alone out in the woods. We've got to go find it!"

Dratini let out an affirmative squeal as it slithered as fast as it could after Poppy, who went sprinting in the direction that Chikorita had run in. She was trying to remain calm, but really, she was in a panic. She'd caught her first Pokémon and lost it the very next day? Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she wasn't meant to be a Pokémon trainer. Maybe she should just go home.

Meanwhile, in the not so distant reaches of the forest, a trio of rather goofy and incompetent Team Rocket members were attempting to hatch a plan to capture more Pokémon for the boss. The trio consisted of a green haired girl named Trixie, a boy with deep crimson hair named Thomas, and a peculiar Rattata that walked upright on two legs like a human. The three of them were huddled around a small fire in the center of the clearing that they'd landed their Rattata-shaped hot air balloon in, as they tried to cook toast over the fire. They were pretty close to the bottom of the Team Rocket heap, meaning that they were pretty broke most of the time. They had to make do, which they did, even if they complained most of the time.

"What are we gonna do, just sit around and eat toast all day?" exclaimed the humanoid Rattata as it leapt off its sitting place on the ground with sudden inspiration. "You guys don't want to be living like this for the rest of your lives, do you? Eating scraps of toast in the woods? No, you don't! I sure as heck don't! And you know what that means?" "

That we're doomed," sighed Thomas overdramatically. He dropped his chin into his palm, looking blatantly defeated. "We're horrible Team Rocket members."

"Don't say that!" Trixie piped up, fast to defend her honor. "We're the absolute best Team Rocket has to offer!"

With an exasperated expression, Thomas then asked, "Then why haven't we caught a Pokémon in months?"

That question clearly left Trixie speechless and frustrated, until she finally fell back on the ground with the same kind of defeated look and let out a heavy sigh. Before she could formulate any kind of response, a rustling in the bushes distracted her and her two team mates. The two turned to the right, to watch in surprise as a little Chikorita with a leg wound stumble out of one of the bushes. Because of its wound, it tripped and fell, making the perfect target for Team Rocket.

"Hey, well, looks like it's our lucky day!" Thomas exclaimed at the sight of the little Grass-type Pokémon.

"It's only a puny Chikorita," Trixie told him. "What would the boss want with a weakling like that?"

Chikorita stood and let out a defensive kind of growl, clearly angry at being called a puny weakling. It sent out a Razor-leaf attack that left cuts across Trixie's face and arms, which angered her, but, also softened her. She looked at the Pokémon with a new light.

"Maybe not," she mused. "That was an impressive Razor Leaf."

"And if that was impressive, imagine how strong it'll be if we evolve it into a Meganium!" Rattata added. "I just know the boss would love waking up to the sweet scent of a Meganium and use it to battle with."

"Wonderful!" Thomas uttered. Within a moment, he'd scooped Chikorita into a net, and tied it over its shoulder. He laughed as the Pokémon struggled, trying to Razor Leaf its way out of the net, to no avail. "It's no use, Chikorita. It's Razor Leaf proof."

"That was easy," Rattata said, as Thomas tossed the bagged Chikorita aside so the three could finish off their lunch. "Maybe we're comin' into good times."

"Well, we've got to start off somewhere," Thomas replied. "And if this was an easy catch, maybe we're getting better at this easy catch thing."

"Mmm," Trixie and Rattata sighed, as they all relaxed into eating the rest of their lunch.

While the trio of Team Rocket members relaxed with the Chikorita they'd bagged, its rightful trainer, Poppy and her Dratini were still frantically searching for the Grass-type Pokémon.

"Chikorita!" Poppy called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Chikorita, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Please come back! Chikorita!"

Dratini let out a sudden urgent shriek, as it pointed its tail in a certain direction.

"You see something, Dratini?" Poppy inquired, rushing to her Pokémon's side. When she arrived, she found Dratini at the very edge of a cliff, waving its tail to point at a small clearing that was visible from their altitude. Shockingly, Poppy caught a glance of her Chikorita struggling in a net next to two people and a Rattata, who were all relaxing by a fire and eating.

Immediately, Poppy clenched her fist and jaw in anger, realizing those people must've stolen it.

"We've got to get Chikorita away from those thieves!" Poppy exclaimed. Dratini nodded, seeming just as heated up as its trainer. "Let's go!"

Just as Poppy turned to run and find a way to get to Chikorita, the ground began to crumble beneath them. Scared beyond her wits, Poppy let out a scream as she grabbed Dratini, clutching the Pokémon into her chest to protect it as they started to fall off the cliff. Poppy could only hope for the best as she squeezed her eyes shut and held on to Dratini for dear life.

"Ivysaur, go!" called a male voice from the cliff Poppy and Dratini were falling off of. "Use your Vine Whip to pull that girl and her Dratini up!"

Suddenly, just as suddenly as they'd fallen, Dratini and Poppy were safely wrapped in Ivysaur's Vine Whip and being pulled up to safety.

"Ivysaur!" cried the Pokémon who'd rescued them, happy it pulled the two to safety.

Poppy and Dratini, who were still clutching each other, opened their eyes, in awe that they'd been pulled to safety and weren't harmed. They looked over to Ivysaur, who was smiling it its own way at the two of them, and its trainer, a deep-teal haired boy.

He wore his deep teal hair short and kind of spiked messily. He was a little tanned, and wearing a teal and gray-blue short sleeved hoodie with brown cargo pants and sneakers that matched his sweatshirt, fingerless gloves on his hands. He was smiling like his Pokémon - clearly glad and relieved that Poppy and Dratini were safe.

"Are you and Dratini okay?" he inquired, as Poppy rose to her feet with Dratini still in her arms.

"Yes, we are, thank you so much," Poppy nodded. With a big grin, she kneeled again, grinning as she gave Ivysaur a good scratch on the head, and added, "And thank you too, Ivysaur. You're great and we can't thank you enough."

"Saur," the Pokémon smiled in response.

"I'm Gage, by the way," the boy introduced himself, as he offered his hand to help Poppy up off the ground. "And what's your name?"

"Poppy," she replied, continuing to smile. "I'm sorry, I'm very thankful that you and your Ivysaur saved Dratini and I, but I really need to go. Those people down there stole my Chikorita, and I really have to go get it back! Thanks again!"

She and Dratini had already started running off before Gage could reply. He looked over the cliff and saw the two humans, the Rattata and the Chikorita in the bag, and, along with Ivysaur, raced off after the girl he'd just saved, and her Dratini. Gage and Ivysaur slid down the side of a hill in order to get down to the level of ground where Chikorita was, and continued to sprint after the girl that'd captured his attention and her Dratini.

The four skidded to a halt in the clearing, startling the Team Rocket members.

Team Rocket didn't even have time to process what was happening, before Poppy screamed, "GIVE ME BACK MY CHIKORITA!" Team Rocket huddled together in fear at first, but then Rattata stood to defend them.

"Your Chikorita?" it asked. "We done caught it fair and square."

"A talking Pokémon?!" Gage and Poppy exclaimed at the same time.

Shaking it off, Poppy went back into rage mode as she continued, "Doesn't matter! Just give me back my Chikorita!"

"It's not your Chikorita!" Thomas shouted. "It's ours! It's in our bag!"

"And if you want it back, you're going to have to fight for it! And if you lose, we'll take that Dratini of yours, too!" Trixie exclaimed. Pulling out a PokéBall, she threw it, and called, "Venomoth, get out here!"

"You too, Poliwrath!" Thomas added, throwing out his own PokéBall.

"Alright, Dratini, you ready?" Poppy asked. Her Pokémon nodded, looking extremely ready, as it stepped up to battle.

"You too, Ivysaur," Gage told his Pokémon.

Ivysaur went to take a step forward, but was stopped, just as Gage was, by Poppy's arm.

"I'm grateful, but I have to do this by myself," she told him. "I have to save my Chikorita and make sure they don't get my Dratini."

Understanding, Gage and Ivysaur nodded and took a step back to let Poppy and Dratini rescue Chikorita. Meanwhile, Chikorita looked at Poppy and Dratini with newfound admiration and respect, seeing how they were willing to fight for it.

"Tackle, Venomoth!" Trixie commanded.

"Water Gun, Poliwhirl!" Thomas chimed in.

"Dodge, and use Wrap, Dratini!" Poppy countered.

Skillfully and gracefully, Dratini thrust itself in the air, dodging the tackle and the water gun. Venomoth crashed into a tree and Poliwhirl's water gun also hit a tree, rendering it useless. Taking the chance, Dratini launched a quick Wrap Attack, squeezing both Venomoth and Poliwhirl in its coils.

"Now, thundershock!" Poppy called. Dratini let out a shrill squeal, as it charged Venomoth and Poliwhirl until they were thoroughly fried and totally unable to battle. Team Rocket jumped in fear and surprise that they'd lost the battle, though Poppy was grinning.

"Now, Dratini, use Iron Tail to cut Chikorita out of that net!" Poppy continued.

Flawlessly, Dratini followed orders, rescuing Chikorita from the net Team Rocket had ensnared it in. It let out a happy squeal and nuzzled Dratini to thank it, before the two Pokémon went back to glaring angrily at the Team Rocket members.

"Uh oh," Rattata mumbled, seeing that it and its two partners had been cornered and pretty much defeated.

"Dratini, blow them away by combining your Twister and Thunder Wave!" Poppy commanded to top everything off. Letting out a ferocious roar, Dratini launched the two powerful attacks that combined together into a powerful wind swirling with electricity. Team Rocket clutched each other and their two disabled Pokémon as they quivered in fear. Within a few moments, they were shocked and fried and whipped into the air from Dratini's Twister, blasting off into the horizon with a twinkle. As soon as Team Rocket had been blown away, Poppy raced over to her Dratini and Chikorita. She hugged Dratini and thanked it, and then reached for Chikorita, who now allowed itself to be touched by its trainer.

"Chiko!" the Pokémon exclaimed happily, as it leapt into Poppy's arms. "Chiko, chiko!"

"Chikorita, are you alright?" Poppy asked, though she was happy that it finally seemed to trust her, as it hugged her and nuzzle her cheek. Dratini slithered around the two, hugging them int its own way.

"Chiko," the Grass-type nodded.

"That's good, I was really worried about you," Poppy smiled. She then pulled a spray bottle of Super Potion from her backpack and said,"Here, this is for your sore leg. It'll sting for a minute, but then it'll feel better, I promise."

"Chiko," Chikorita replied. Bravely, it stuck its injured leg out to Poppy, who spritzed it with the Super Potion.

It winced and let out a cry, feeling the sting. However, in a moment, the pain past, and Chikorita felt millions of times better. In appreciation, it nuzzled Poppy again as it smiled, and Poppy and Dratini hugged it back. Poppy had regained her confidence as an able Trainer, and finally had earned Chikorita's trust and respect.

"You were great, Dratini," Poppy said. "And I'm so happy to have you back, Chikorita."

She then rose to her feet, her happy Chikorita still in her arms, and Dratini loyally at her side, and turned to Gage and his Ivysaur, who were still there. They looked impressed by Dratini and Poppy.

"Your Dratini is amazing," Gage said, as he and Ivysaur stepped closer. "And I'm glad you got your Chikorita back."

"Well, thank you," Poppy grinned. "But we wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you and Ivysaur."

Still holding Chikorita, Poppy extended a hand for Gage to shake, and so they did. Both of the trainers nodded, out of mutual respect. Gage, however, blushed ever so slightly when his hand collided with hers.

"So, I didn't get to ask you what you were doing out here in the woods," Gage continued the conversation.

"Oh," Poppy replied. "I'm just starting out on my Pokémon journey, even though I'm a little old. I'm on my way to Violet City for my first Gym Battle."

"No one's too old to go start their Pokémon journey," Gage told her. "I was fifteen when I started. I just came in the top 8 at the Indigo League, and I just got here to earn my Johto Badges for the Johto League."

"Cool!" Poppy replied. "Maybe we'll battle someday. Anyway, thanks again, but I've got to get going."

Poppy started off down the trail, confident, carrying Chikorita as Dratini slithered along. There was a big smile on her face and on her Pokémon's faces, but she was suddenly interrupted.

"Poppy?" called Gage. She stopped in her tracks, glancing back over her shoulder. "Violet City's in the opposite direction."

"Oh," she sighed, clearly embarrassed as here her Pokémon. "I'm really no good with directions."

"That's okay," Gage smiled. "You can tag along with me, if you want, and I can take you to Violet City. I'm on my way there for my first Johto badge as well."

"Really?" Poppy beamed. "That'd be great!"

So, Poppy, Chikorita and Dratini were off with their new friends, Gage and Ivysaur, and on their way to continue their adventures in the world of Pokémon.


	4. Chapter 4

The following day, Gage and Poppy, with all their Pokémon in their PokéBalls, walked down a path that ran along a running river. Poppy had put Dratini in its PokéBall since it was so shy. True, it was grateful to Gage and Ivysaur, but that didn't change its crippling shyness around people who weren't Poppy, so it decided to chill out in its PokéBall.

Meanwhile, the trainers travelled, with Poppy completely in awe of everything she saw. Gage, who'd been travelling for some time now, didn't seem quite as in awe of his surroundings as Poppy was with hers. She'd seen a river and the forest before, of course, but that was all up in the mountain. She'd rarely been off of the mountain, so seeing forest that she'd never seen before put her in awe and gave her the real sense that she was truly on her Pokémon journey. Her attention was quickly diverted back to the water rushing down the river, seeing a mass of blue Pokémon with yellow-tipped antennae racing down the river in a clump.

"Wow," Gage mused, seeing what she was seeing. "Look at all those Chinchou."

"Chinchou?" Poppy inquired. There weren't any Chinchou at her brother's lab, so she pulled out her PokéDex.

The PokéDex said: "Chinchou, the Angler Pokémon, have the ability to conduct electrical currents from their two tentacles which flow positive from one end and negative to the other. Chinchou can also communicate underwater by flashing its tentacles."

"So, it's a Water and Electric-type?" she asked Gage.

"That's right," he affirmed.

"What're they all doing here?" she questioned.

"They're usually ocean dwellers, but there's a pretty big population of them that live up in a lake not too far from here," Gage explained. "And during this time of year, they'll migrate back down to the ocean through this river, so they can evolve and breed. The Chinchou that don't evolve come back up the river to live in the lake until the next season."

"Wow," Poppy sighed. "That's so cool. And imagine, a Water and Electric-type, which means they're not vulnerable to Electric attacks, a Water-type's greatest weakness. On top of that, they're totally adorable!"

Though Gage wasn't as easily fascinated by the cuteness factor as Poppy was, he smiled as she stared at the Chinchou in adoration. As she watched the passing Angler Pokémon, she noticed one Chinchou that seemed slightly smaller than the rest of its kind going down the river. It was quite obviously struggling to swim with the strong current. It was shoved into a rock by the current, and was stranded there, not strong enough to move off of the rock and follow the rest. Within a moment or two, it seemed the rest of the Chinchou were nearly out of sight, but the one little Chinchou was still stuck behind the rock.

"Look, that one's stuck!" Poppy exclaimed, pointing her finger.

"Yeah, it is," Gage agreed, seeming just as worried as she did. He looked down the river, and saw that all the other Chinchou were nowhere in sight. Even more concerned now, he added, "And it looks like all its' buddies are way down the river now."

"We need to help it," she concluded. Reaching for a PokéBall, she called, "Go, Chikorita!"

"Chiko!" exclaimed the Pokémon as it materialized out of its PokéBall.

"Quick, Chikorita, use your Vine Whip to get that Chinchou out from behind that rock!" she told it.

"Chiko!" agreed the Pokémon.

In the blink of an eye, the little Grass-type had sent out a pair of powerful Vines, which it wrapped around the struggling Chinchou, and pulled it out of the water, away from the rock and onto the shore, with Poppy and Gage.

"Great job, Chikorita," Poppy praised, as the Grass-type leapt into her arms and nuzzled her cheek. Pulling out her PokéBall again, she said, "Now, return, and take a nice rest."

"How are you doing, buddy?" Gage asked, kneeling down to the little blue Pokémon.

"Chin?" the Pokémon seemed to ask, with a quizzical kind of look on its face. "Chinchou?"

"All your friends got down the river without you," Poppy said, kneeling down alongside Gage.

"Chin," Chinchou sighed, looking a little sad.

It hopped over closer to Poppy, the trainer who's Pokémon had saved it, and hugged her leg with its little fins. Grinning, Poppy picked Chinchou up and pulled it into her lap, where it continued to hug her, now also using its antennae to grip her, which gave off a faint glow. Poppy rubbed Chinchou's head, earning a happy sigh from the Pokémon, and causing it to snuggle even closer to her.

"Aw, it's okay, little one," Poppy said to Chinchou. "We'll get you back to your friends. I'll carry you there."

She and Gage rose to their feet, and he said, "I know Chinchou can't swim in this current, but Chinchou have to stay moist or else they'll get sick."

With a sigh, Poppy asked, "Then...how're we supposed to get Chinchou to the ocean so it can be with all its friends?"

"Here," Gage said, pulling out a pot from his bag. Leaning over, he scooped some water into the pot, and extended it to Poppy. "Put Chinchou in here with the water, and you can carry it down to the ocean that way."

"Great!" Poppy replied, plopping Chinchou into the pot. The Pokémon splashed the water, seeming extremely happy. "How far away is the ocean, Gage?"

"A couple of miles," Gage estimated. "We can probably make it there if we leave right now."

"Mm," Poppy nodded. "Let's go!"

With that, she started to sprint off, with the pot and Chinchou in her arms, so fast that Gage could barely keep up with her. But, he laughed as he caught up with her, reminding her that she didn't exactly need to sprint.

"Look, Thomas, it's that brat with the Dratini," Trixie said, looking through a pair of binoculars from her perch in their Rattata-shaped hot air balloon. "And the boy brat with the Ivysaur...hmph, what's that the girl brat's arms?"

"It appears to be a Chinchou," Thomas told her, peering through his own binoculars.

"A Chinchou?" Trixie inquired.

"Mhm," Thomas affirmed. "Strange, though, they're usually only found at the bottom of the ocean."

"So they're rare," Rattata concluded on its own. "That means the boss would love to have one of those for his aquarium."

"And we can get another chance to snatch that Dratini from the little brat," Trixie added.

"I'm sure the boss would really love a Dratini he could evolve into a Dragonite!" Thomas squealed.

"No!" shouted Trixie, giving Thomas a good bash to the head. "I want it! It's cute and powerful, I just have to have it!"

"But, Trix, we're supposed to steal for the boss, not for ourselves," Thomas whined.

"Oh, whatever," Trixie grumbled. "If I want that Dratini, it's that Dratini I'll get!"

Fearing Trixie, Thomas and Rattata huddled together in the corner, trembling. They didn't stand a chance against someone as domineering as Trixie.

Down on the ground, Poppy, Chinchou and Gage continued on, following the river. They'd been walking along for quite some time now and the sun was starting to set. Just over the horizon, Poppy caught her first glance of the ocean, which really amazed her. She hadn't seen the ocean since she was a little girl, when her parents took her and her brother on a vacation to Silver Rock Isle. Now that she was seeing it again, she started to sprint again. Laughing, Gage picked up the pace to catch up to here.

"We made it!" Poppy exclaimed happily.

However, little Chinchou didn't seem nearly as excited as Poppy had expected it to be.

Either way, she kicked off her boots and socks, rolled up her dark gray jeans, and waded into the water. She lifted Chinchou out of the pot, which she tossed back to Gage, and carefully lowered Chinchou into the water. She smiled, as did Gage, since they hoped the Pokémon would be happy to be in its natural habitat and on its way to see its friends. However, when Poppy let go of Chinchou to let it swim on its own, it yelped, struggling in the water, as it held onto Poppy's leg for dear life.

"What's the matter, Chinchou?" Poppy asked, scooping it back up in her arms. "Don't you want to see your friends?"

"Chinchou!" the Pokémon replied, shaking its head vigorously, as if to say no.

"I don't think Chinchou wants to go, Poppy," Gage chimed in.

"Why not?" Poppy inquired, glancing at Gage. "Why wouldn't it want to see its friends?"

"I don't know," Gage sighed, scratching the back of its head.

Just at that moment, Gage and Poppy looked out over the water, seeing the mass of Chinchou. A couple of them swam over to Poppy, so she lowered the Chinchou she'd be holding back into the water. It looked fearful and apprehensive, and Poppy understood, as she watched the two other Chinchou start slapping the Chinchou she'd helped with their antennae. Quickly, Poppy snatched the tiny Chinchou up into her arms, protecting it from the others.

"C'mon, don't be mean!" she yelled at the other Chinchou."Why would you hit a friend?"

"Poppy, I think that the other Chinchou are trying to tell the little Chinchou that it's not strong enough," Gage told her. "I think they think it can't handle coming out into the ocean yet."

"Oh," Poppy sighed, glancing down at the little Chinchou in her arms, as the others swam away. "I suppose that makes sense. Is that's what's wrong, little one?"

"Chin," the Pokémon seemed to agree. "Chinchou."

Suddenly, a rope fell from the sky, wrapping around Poppy and binding her arms right to her sides. Chinchou was effectively knocked from her arms and back into the water, as Poppy screeched in shock, being lifted into the air. Gage was shocked as well, and looked up, to see that the rope had come from Team Rocket's Rattata balloon.

"What're you three doing here?!" Gage yelled up from the beach, fists clenched.

"We're taking Dratini!" Trixie told him. "And since it's in it's PokéBall right now, we'll just have to take your bratty little friend to get the PokéBall!"

"No you won't!" Poppy screamed, wriggling to try and free herself from the rope.

"It's no use, brat!" Rattata replied, peering over the edge of the balloon. "That rope's wriggle-proof!"

Surprising everyone, Chinchou leapt into the air, releasing an impressive Thunder Shock attack. It hit Team Rocket's balloon dead on, giving them a good shock, causing them to scream. And, just like last time they met, Team Rocket seemed to explode, and go flying off through the air. In all the chaos, the rope restraining Poppy broke, and she came flying down to the ground.

"Ivysaur, Vine Whip and catch Poppy, go!" Gage called, throwing out a PokéBall.

"Ivysaur!" the Pokémon exclaimed, sending out the Vine Whip. Carefully, it caught Poppy, gently set her down in the sand.

"Thanks, Ivysaur," she said to the Pokémon, giving it a good scratch on the head. "Your Vine Whip has really proved to come in handy."

"We're just glad you're okay," Gage piped up, as he called Ivysaur back into the PokéBall. "And that those thieves didn't get any of your Pokémon."

"Thanks," Poppy repeated with a smile. Poppy waded back into the water, to Chinchou, who happily leapt into her arms, hugging her and nuzzling her cheeks.

"And I owe you a big thanks too, Chinchou," Poppy told the Pokémon. "Without you, I wouldn't be here."

"Chin!" the Pokémon exclaimed, proud of itself. "Chin, Chinchou!"

Looking down, Poppy and Chinchou noticed a swarm of Chinchou gathered around them, seeming to try to beckon the little Chinchou Poppy was holding to come with them. Poppy assumed that the other Chinchou had seen how strong the little one really was, and now believe in it. However, when Poppy tried to put Chinchou in the water with all the others, it resisted, only leaping back into her arms.

"It looks like Chinchou wants to come with you, Poppy," Gage said.

"Is that true?" Poppy inquired, her eyes sparkling.

"Chinchou!" the Pokémon confirmed, hugging and nuzzling her more than ever.

"Well, then, welcome to the family!" Poppy said, taking an empty PokéBall from her pocket. Effortlessly, she was able to call Chinchou into the ball. Happily, she jumped in the air and spun around, yelling, "Yes! Chinchou's a part of my team! I did it!"

"You did it!" Gage chimed in, as Poppy sprinted joyfully onto the beach.

And with that, another day set on our two heroes, and another Pokémon joined Poppy's team. And, Team Rocket shot off again, and certainly not for the last time.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a new day for Poppy and Gage, the sun shining overhead as they walked into Cherrygrove City. The air was fresh and full of hope, as they finally were ready to truly begin their journey through Johto. Gage had suggested they make their first stop at the Pokémon Center, to register for the Johto Leauge, and get their Pokémon checked out just for good measure.

"Good morning, Nurse Joy," Gage greeted, as he and Poppy approached the main desk. "Good morning to you too, Chansey."

"Chansey!" the Pokémon replied joyfully.

"Hi there, kids," Nurse Joy responded with a warm smile of her own. "How can I help you?"

"We're here to register for the Johto League," Gage informed her.

"Great, now if I could just see your PokéDexes," Nurse Joy continued. Gage and Poppy handed over their PokéDexes, and Nurse Joy plugged them into the computer, typing away for a moment. In a minute, she handed them back to the two, and said, "There you go! You're all set for the Johto League, Gage and Poppy."

"Thanks!" Gage and Poppy thanked her in unison.

"Is there anything else for you?" Nurse Joy inquired.

"Would you mind taking a look at our Pokémon?" Gage requested.

"Of course!" Nurse Joy affirmed. She slid two trays for PokéBalls over the desk, and added, "Just put your PokéBalls in here, and I can check all of them out!"

"Thanks!" Gage and Poppy thanked in unison again, after putting their PokéBalls into the trays.

The two waited for Nurse Joy to finish up with their Pokémon, hanging out in the lobby and looking through magazines to fill the time. It didn't take too long, before Gage and Poppy got their PokéBalls back. Poppy noticed then that Gage had three Pokéballs on him, just like she did.

"So, you have two other Pokémon besides Ivysaur, huh?" Poppy observed. Gage nodded, and she added, "Can I see them, if you don't mind?"

"Oh, of course," Gage replied. With that, he tossed out his PokéBalls, and called, "Alright, everyone, c'mon out!"

Three Pokémon materialized before her eyes. Poppy recognized Ivysaur, obviously, but Ivysaur was now accompanied by a Raichu and a Hitmontop. Though Poppy knew what these Pokémon were, she pulled out her PokéDex nonetheless.

About Raichu, the PokéDex said: "Raichu, a Mouse Pokémon of the Electric element. Raichu is the evolved form of Pikachu. It can shock with more than 100,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious."

And, about Hitmontop, it said: "Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokémon. Hitmontop's smooth graceful kicks are deceptively powerful. Opponents may be surprised by their force, so beware."

"Wow," Poppy sighed. Smiling at the Pokémon, she praised, "You guys are awesome!"

"Rai, Rai!" replied the Electric-type Pokémon happily, as it approached Poppy. It extended a paw for her to shake, and they did.

"Hitmontop!" chimed in the Fighting-type, as it also shook hands with Poppy.

"Well, they seem to like you," Gage said. "Why don't you let out your Pokémon so everyone can get to know each other?"

"Good idea," Poppy nodded. She pulled her three PokéBalls out, which she had painted to match the colors of the Pokémon inside, and called, "Alright, everyone come on out!"

She tossed out her PokéBalls, releasing Dratini, Chikorita and Chinchou materialized in the lobby of the Pokémon Center. Poppy's three stared at Gage's three. Gage's Pokémon approached Poppy's in a friendly manner, chattering as they did so to introduce themselves. While Chinchou took kindly to the three new Pokémon, 'shaking hands' with them with its antennae, and jumping for joy. On the other hand, Chikorita leapt into Poppy's arms, nuzzling her cheeks, while Dratini wrapped around Poppy's leg and hid behind her.

"Go on, guys," Poppy said, setting Chikorita down on the ground. As she pried Dratini from her leg, she added, "Go say hi to Gage's Pokémon, and go say hi to Chinchou, your new teammate."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a feminine voice shouted, "OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT AN ADORABLE IVYSAUR! AND WHAT A PRECIOUS CHIKORITA!"

To Gage and Poppy's shock, a girl sprinted over to them. She work a purple tank top, gray skirt and a pink jacket, with a necklace with a leaf-shaped pendant hanging from the chord. Her boots were pink, her socks green. Her hair was long and straight and green, bangings tickling the eyelashes of her green eyes. There was a pink headband with a little rose on her head as well. The girl fell to her knees, eyes shut because of her incredible smile, as she squealed with joy. She grabbed Ivysaur and Chikorita before they even had a chance to process the situation, and squeezed the two Grass-types in a choke-hold of a hug.

Upon releasing them, she continued to pat them frantically, she said in a manic kind of voice, "Oh, gosh, your Grass Pokémon are just divine! You clearly take great care of them! Ivysaur's bulb is such a beautiful shade of reddish-pink and its leaves are perfect! And Chikorita - it's leave is so large and shiny, and there's a wonderful twinkle in its eyes! They both look so healthy!"

"Well, thanks," Gage replied humbly and awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, while Poppy stared at the new girl in confusion.

"I'm Rose," the girl introduced herself, still seeming a bit ditzy or manic. She stood and shook Gage's and Poppy's hands, and added, "And I'm going to be the world's best Grass-type Trainer!"

"Cool," Poppy nodded. "I'm Poppy, from Rowan Town. I'm just starting my Pokémon journey."

"And I'm Gage," he piped up. "I just came from Johto to go to the Johto League. I came in the top 8 back home at the Indigo League."

"Awesome!" Rose squealed. "Do you guys want to meet my Pokémon?"

"Sure," Gage and Poppy replied. They seemed apprehensive, but they were just being polite.

"Okay!" Rose replied enthusiastically. She removed a PokéBall from her pocket, which was painted green with little pink flowers all over it, and tossed it out saying, "C'mon out, Lily!"

"Chiko!" screeched the happy little Chikorita that Rose had released from the PokéBall.

Rose's Chikorita, which she had called Lily, was rather large compared to Poppy's. Another distinguishing factor between the two was that Lily wore a pink flower tied around the leaf on her head, like a headband. To Gage and Poppy, Lily the Chikorita seemed well taken care of, and even spoiled, with its little accessory.

"This is Lily, my pride and joy," Rose explained. "I got her a couple of weeks ago from Professor Elm. She's my starter Pokémon."

"What other Pokémon do you have?" Poppy inquired, leaning over to pet Lily, who was now in Rose's arms.

Rose winced, and Poppy sensed she'd struck a nerve with the girl, and blushed out of embarrassment.

"Well, I just started out," Rose retorted defensively. "I don't have any other Pokémon yet, but just wait and see! Soon enough I'll have one of every kind of Grass-type Pokémon!"

"If you're planning on going to the closest Gym, you might want to catch another kind of Pokémon," Gage suggested. "The Gym Leader there specializes in Flying-type Pokémon, so maybe you'd want to catch an Electric-type next."

"Silly!" Rose laughed, as Lily leapt back into her arms. "I'm not going to do any Gym Battles."

"I thought you said that you were a Trainer?" Poppy questioned.

"Oh," Rose sighed, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. With awkward chuckles, she added, "Did I say Trainer? I meant Coordinator. I still get them confused."

"What's a Coordinator?" Poppy inquired.

"A Coordinator trains with Pokémon much like a regular trainer, but instead of entering Gym Battles, they enter Pokémon Contests," explained Gage. "They battle in these contests, but they train their Pokémon to use attacks that aren't just effective, but beautiful as well."

Poppy nodded in awe and wonder, and Rose nodded affirmatively.

"That's right," Rose confirmed. "And I'll be Top Coordinator someday, and show everyone just how amazing and beautiful Grass Pokémon can be!"

"Wow, that's an amazing goal, Rose," Poppy grinned. Taking a step forward, she pet Lily again, and told the Pokémon, "And I'm sure you're with your Trainer all the way, huh?"

"Chiko!" Lily replied.

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but her stomach did the speaking when it let out a loud roar that didn't match her young, girlish appearance at all. Again, she blushed sheepishly, and her Pokémon did the same out of second-hand embarrassment.

"Well, I guess that's my cue to leave and go eat lunch," she muttered.

"Mind if we join you?" Poppy asked.

"Not at all!" Rose replied. "We'd love to have you, wouldn't we, Lily?"

"Chiko!" the Pokémon agreed.

Not too much later, the three humans and Lily sat in one of the booths of the Pokémon Center's cafeteria, having lunch. Gage, the only boy among the two girls, was shocked to see just how a couple of tiny, far from intimidating-looking girls could chow down. They were going at it like Pokémon that hadn't been feed in weeks, and to be honest, Gage was a little embarrassed to be with the two girls chowing down in public. Adding to the embarrassment, Lily the Chikorita was eating ravenously just like her Trainer was.

"Y'know, we have all day to eat," Gage informed them sheepishly. "You guys don't have to eat everything in one bite."

Just as Gage finished his sentence, Poppy and Rose and Lily, all sitting on the bench opposite of him and Ivysaur, collapsed with happy sighs. To his real shock, they'd cleaned their plates, when he'd barely made a dent.

As Gage decided he'd eat his own lunch, Poppy asked, "So, Rose, you're just starting on your journey, huh?"

"Mhm," Rose nodded, smiling with Lily in her arms. "Lily and I are going to compete in the next Contest in Violet City."

"That's where we're headed," Gage told her.

"That's awesome," Poppy smiled. "How many Contests have you been in so far?"

"Well," Rose mumbled, looking down as she seemed embarrassed once again. "I haven't been in any...I only got Lily a couple of weeks ago, and we've been training at home, but my mom won't let me go on my Pokémon journey by myself."

"You can come with us, if you want," Poppy piped up. "If that would help your mom out, y'know."

"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Gage piped up with a grin.

"Ok, I'm just going to go call my mom!" Rose exclaimed, leaping from the booth to run to the video phones.

"Ok!" Gage and Poppy smiled.

Gage went back to eating, as Poppy helped herself to his plate, which he didn't seem to mind all that much. Within a minute or so, two strange people in ridiculous waiter outfits came over to the table, huge, phony smiles on their faces. They stood at the end of Gage and Poppy's booth, with their phony smiles and faint phony laughter, waiting to be noticed.

"Um, can we help you two?" Gage inquired hesitantly.

"We're just here to take your dirty dishes!" responded the male waiter in a sing-song voice.

Before Gage or Poppy knew it, the waiter and waitress picked up all their dishes in the blink of an eye, stacking them in their arms. However, Gage and Poppy were so distracted by watching the whacky wait staff that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, that the didn't notice that the waiter and waitress were actually Team Rocket, and that Team Rocket's Rattata was under the table, swiping their PokéBalls right out of their backpacks. Once Rattata smacked them on the legs from under the table, their smiles grew, barely able to contain themselves.

"Well, that'll be it!" chimed in Trixie, disguised as the female waitress.

"Enjoy your day at the Pokémon Center!" they sang in unison, before running off.

"That's weird," Poppy remarked. "I thought only Chansey and Nurse Joy ran Pokémon Centers. I didn't know they had a wait staff."

"Yeah, something seemed kinda weird about those two," Gage replied. Then, he added, "Y'know what, we forgot to let our Pokémon eat."

"Whoops," Poppy mumbled, feeling bad and embarrassed. "Well, better late than never."

"Mhm," Gage nodded with a smile.

Both he and Poppy fumbled around their pockets, and then their bags, growing more and more panicked as they did. When they both realized that the other one couldn't find their PokéBalls, they looked at each other in panic.

Gage, angry, rose to his feet. "I knew those waiters were weird!" he shouted. "It was Team Rocket!"

"No!" Poppy screamed, feeling completely stupid and duped. "We've got to go get them!"

With that, they sprinted out the doors of the Pokémon Center. Rose, on the other hand, just received positive news from her mother, who said that she was free to go on her Pokémon journey now that she had two traveling companions. She hollered for them to stop, so she could tell them the good news, but they just sprinted on out of the Pokémon Center, on some sort of mission.

After looking to each other for validation, Rose and Lily sprinted off after them. Outside, Rose found Gage and Poppy in an angry stare-down with two fools who called themselves Team Rocket members, and a...a talking Rattata! At first, she was mesmerized, but then she snapped back to reality, realizing the situation.

"Who are these creeps?" Rose asked.

"That's Team Rocket," Gage spat. "They're just troublemakers, and they're always trying to steal our Pokémon!"

"Trying?" Trixie chuckled. Gesturing to the bag Rattata swung in its paws, she added, "I think we've succeeded in stealing your Pokémon."

"And right under your noses, too!" Rattata laughed. "You dumb little brats!"

"Give us back our Pokémon!" Poppy demanded fiercely.

"Never!" Thomas screeched with howling laughter.

Glancing down at her Pokémon, Rose asked, "Want to help 'em out, Lily?"

"Chiko!" Lily confirmed, taking a battle stance.

Laughing, Trixie said, "Please, little girl, don't try."

"Yeah, no flower-wearing Chikorita and a little girl trainer are ever going to get anything out of us!" Thomas added.

"We'll show you!" Rose hollered, angry that someone would insult her and her best friend like that. "Go, Lily, use Razor Leaf to cut that bag!"

"Chiko Chiko!" the Pokémon hollered as it sent out the attack.

Team Rocket stopped laughing immediately, seeing that the Razor Leaf actually worked, and the PokéBalls went rolling across the ground to their rightful owners. Now Team Rocket knew that they were in for it. As Poppy and Gage happily scrambled for their PokéBalls, Rose and Lily stared down Team Rocket, who were now shaking in their boots. They were also shocked that such an unassuming girl could've done that, but the fear was far more prominent at the moment.

"Go, Chinchou!" Poppy called, tossing out a PokéBall. Her cute little Chinchou emerged, happily wagging its fins and antennae.

"You too, Raichu!" added Gage, tossing out his PokéBall. Gage's Raichu emerged, looking extremely angry at Team Rocket.

"Now, give Team Rocket a good shock!" called both of the trainers.

Their Pokémon obeyed, giving Team Rocket the shock of a lifetime that caused a small explosion, that subsequently caused Team Rocket to fly off through the air, screaming their heads off. Once they faded into the horizon, Poppy and Gage smiled, tossing the rest of their Pokémon from their PokéBalls to make sure they were okay. Rose smiled, seeing how happy the Pokémon were with their trainers. Dratini and Poppy clearly had a really strong bond, like Gage and his Ivysaur. Chinchou, Raichu, Chikorita and Hitmontop had a strong relationship with them as well.

"Thanks, Rose," Poppy said, giving her new friend a hug. She gave Lily a good scratch on the head and added, "And thank you too, Lily. You're great."

"Yeah, we really owe you one," Gage tagged on.

"Then you'll let me and Lily travel with you?" Rose asked, Lily in her arms.

"Of course!" Gage and Poppy replied in unison.

"Awesome!" Rose yelped in happiness.

The new threesome smiled and laughed with each other, as another day faded on our heroes. Only now, one more hero and her Chikorita were added to the gang.


	6. Chapter 6

Another day came upon our three heroes, and they were making their way through a path down the middle of a forest. Lily the Chikorita travelled out of her PokéBall, in Roses arms, and even Dratini had mustered the courage to come out of its PokéBall to slither alongside Poppy. Gage had even decided to let Ivysaur out to enjoy the sun as well.

When they came to a clearing in the forest that revealed a lake, Gage grinned and suggested, "Hey, why don't we stop here for some a swim and some lunch?"

"Yes, please," huffed Rose, who seemed tired. She wasn't used to all the walking yet. "I'm sweating buckets. A swim would be fabulous."

"Yeah," Poppy agreed. Smiling down at Dratini, she asked, "I'm sure you'd love a swim, huh, friend?"

Dratini nodded and squealed happily, as the group came onto the lake. In no time, they'd changed into bathing suits. Rose had removed her floral head band and shimmied into a pink and white flower print two piece. Gage changed into a pair of dark teal swim trunks. Poppy removed the backwards baseball cap she always had on and the rest of her clothes, and slipped into a navy blue one piece with white stripes on the sides.

Suddenly, a red beam shot out of one of the PokéBalls in Poppy's backpack, taking the three humans by surprise. It was Poppy's Chinchou, even happier than its usual self, which Poppy didn't even think it was possible. It smiled and squealed, waggling its fins and antennae, and, after giving Poppy a quick hug, hopped right onto the water and started playing by itself, as happy as it could be.

"Well, Chinchou's back in its natural habitat," Poppy grinned. "And seemes even happier than usual."

"I didn't even know that Chinchou could get any happier," Gage laughed. "Why don't we let the others out for a swim in the lake?"

"Sure thing!" Poppy agreed.

So she released Chikorita and Gage released Raichu and Hitmontop, and the whole group hopped in the lake for a good swim. There were splash fights, games of Marco Polo, and other shenanigans, for quite some time, before deciding to break for a picnic lunch.

Lily and Poppy's Chikorita found a bed of flowers not so far off, which they both seemed to love. Lily pranced and hopped and sniffed all the flowers, as Chikorita only tried to take a nap among all of the flowers. Lily pounced on Chikorita playfully, nudging at it and kicking it to try and wake it up, which didn't make Chikorita too happy. Annoyed, it used Vine Whip to knock Lily away, which only annoyed Lily. They nearly got into a full-out Vine Whip fight, until Ivysaur intervened, picking them both up off of the ground with its own Vine Whip, as it scolded them for fighting.

Chinchou was still swimming in the water. Dratini was curled in the grass right on the edge of the water, dangling its tail over the edge. Chinchou chased Dratini's tail, hopping out of the water to poke it with its little fins, until Dratini moved its tail again. Off on the edge of the forest, Raichu and Hitmontop picked some berries off of a bush, happily chatting away as they did so.

Meanwhile, the human trainers started prepping some sandwiches for lunch. They were still in their bathing suits, but they had dried off. They'd established a sandwich system - Rose put on the jelly, Gage put on the peanut butter, and finally Poppy put the two slices of bread together and onto the plate. Suddenly, the trio heard what sounded like a huge impact, and a Pokémon in pain.

They glanced at each other, concerned, surprised and a little confused.

Poppy was the first to rise to her feet, as she said, "We really should go see what that was. A Pokémon could be in serious trouble."

"You're right," Gage nodded, as he stood up.

"Yeah, let's go," Rose agreed.

The three of them were off, after calling most of their Pokémon back into their PokéBalls, and quickly slipping back into their clothes and gathering their things. They left Dratini, Ivysaur and Lily out, and then sprinted off through the woods in the direction that they'd heard the noise come from. To their surprise, there wasn't an injured Pokémon waiting for help, but instead, two Trainers in the middle of a battle.

The trio and their Pokémon stopped in their tracks, so that they didn't run into the middle of the battle. Seizing the opportunity, Poppy pulled out the PokéDex, though only one Pokémon was unknown to her.

About the Pokémon that Poppy already knew, the PokéDex said: "Cloyster, a Bivalve Pokémon. Its shell is incredibly strong and resistant to a bomb. Its shell only opens when it attacks."

And, about the Pokémon that Poppy had never seen, the PokéDex told them: "Deino, the Irate Pokémon. Because Deino never stops biting anything it can, it is dangerous to approach without taking precautions."

"Woah," Poppy muttered. "I've never seen a Deino before."

"That's because they're native to the Unova region," Gage explained. "Not from around here. Its Trainer must be from up there."

Before Poppy could reply, the battle got back underway.

"Okay, Deino, use Dragon Pulse!" commanded its black-haired Trainer.

"Close, Cloyster," countered the Cloyster's blue-haired trainer, whose face was obscured by the shadows. Just from his tone, he seemed arrogant.

The trio watched, slack-jawed, as Deino launched what looked like a powerful attack. It looked powerful, but it was completely deflected by Cloyster's shell. The defensive move clearly shocked Deino and its Trainer, but Cloyster's trainer only chuckled from his place in the shadows, as Cloyster opened its shell to reveal the sly grin on its face.

"Finish it off with Ice Beam, Cloyster," said its Trainer. "We don't have all day to battle losers."

Deino didn't even have a chance. In the blink of an eye, Cloyster launched an Ice Beam, that was a dead-on hit, freezing Deino solid. Immediately, its dark-haired Trainer, clad in cream pants, and a baggy blue top raced for his Pokémon, who was now encased in a block of ice, seeming worried as ever as he kneeled down by his frozen friend.

"Deino, are you okay?" he asked, shouting at it through the ice. "Talk to me, buddy!"

"Deino," the Pokémon muttered weakly in response.

The opposing Trainer stepped forward with an arrogant chuckle, revealing himself. His hair was deep blue and messy, falling into his eyes and pulled into a ponytail. He wore a dark blue t-shirt beneath a red and gray-blue short sleeved jacket, black jeans, and red boots that matched his jacket. There was a silver chain hanging from his neck, and leather studded wrist bands on either arm, along with a cocky expression. As soon as they got a good look at him, Gage winced.

"Good job, Cloyster," the other Trainer said, calling Cloyster back into its PokéBall. The Trainer flipped his hair from his eyes, and chuckled again, as he added, "You might want an ice pick to get your Deino out of there."

Deino's trainer rose to his feet, and extended a hand to shake. Trying to be a good sport he said, "Yeah, that was a really impressive attack. Great battle."

"I know," replied the cockier Trainer. He rejected the handshake, only flipping his hair out of his eyes again. "Anyway, I'm outta here. Better get that Deino out of the ice."

He started walking off from the Trainer he'd beaten, and towards the trio. He glanced up at them, locking eyes with Gage, who looked angry, while the other Trainer smirked and chuckled arrogantly yet again.

"Well, well, well," teased the other Trainer. "If it isn't Gage the Geek."

Now, even more angry and annoyed, Gage spat, "What're you doing here, Felix?"

"I'm here to win the Johto League, why else would I be here?" the Trainer called Felix countered. "Things got boring back home in Kanto after I beat you at the Indigo League. I needed new and better trainers to battle, but I still haven't found anyone able to beat me yet."

"Well, you got beat in the final four of the Indigo League," Gage reminded him.

"True, but I knocked you out of the Top Eight," Felix replied smugly. That shut Gage up, bringing about another arrogant chuckle from Felix. "Anyway, are you going to be rude and not introduce me to your two little girlfriends here?"

"We're not his girlfriends," spat Poppy, who was already disgusted with this Felix guy. "And I can introduce myself. I'm Poppy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Poppy," Felix told her, as he shook her hand in a deceptively gentlemanly manner. He leaned into her hand as if he was going to kiss it, but then sharply looked up at her and said, "I'm surprised a girl as beautiful as yourself would be travelling with a loser like Gage the Geek over her."

Ripping her hand from his grip, she responded, "I happen to like Gage a lot and I don't think he's a geek at all. You, on the other hand, seem like a total jerk."

"Hmph," muttered Felix, flipping his hair from his eyes again. He moved his attention to Rose, and he asked, "And who're you, little girl? Are you even old enough to have that wimpy Chikorita?"

Now, like her companions, Rose was irritated and angered. She spat, "Of course I am! And I'm no little girl!"

"You look pretty little to me," Felix replied. "Anyways, I've got to go. I'm on my way to get my second Gym Badge."

"What?!" Gage asked, in shock. "You already got a Gym Badge?!"

"Yup," Felix nodded. He pulled a shiny silver wing-shaped badge from his vest, showing it off, as he said, "Just won this at the Violet City Gym. That Gym leader's Flying Pokémon were no match for my Electabuzz."

After putting his badge back in his vest, he concluded, "Well, I've really got to go and get my next Gym Badge. Catch you later, Geek."

With that, he turned on his heels, heading off into the forest, leaving everyone he'd angered behind.

The trio watched him go, burning with anger as they watched him leave, before the Deino's Trainer meekly asked, "Would you guys mind helping me get Deino out of this ice?"

A while later, the trio and Deino's Trainer freed it from the ice. Deino was just fine - a bit chilled, but just fine.

"Thank you guys, so much," Deino's Trainer said geniunely, as he rose to his feet to give his Pokémon a good pat. "I'm Elliot, by the way, and this is my pal, Deino."

While the trio introduced themselves to Elliot and Deino, Team Rocket watched them from a not-so-distant tree.

"That's a Deino," Rattata informed his two partners. "Never seen one of them in person before."

"Maybe that's because you're not a person," muttered Thomas under his breath. When Rattata glared at him in response, he shuddered and added, "And maybe that's because they're also native to the Unova region and not the Johto region!"

"If they're not native around here," Trixie mused. "The boss might really like one."

"Mhm," Rattata agreed. "Imagine how happy the boss would be if we brought him a Deino like that! I hear Deino's are always bitin' and chompin' away at stuff, so maybe the boss could use it as his own personal lawn mower!"

"What a divine idea!" Trixie squealed. "We just have to have that little Deino darling!"

"And maybe we'll finally get that bonus we've been waiting for!" Thomas added hopefully.

Back on the ground, the trio, along with Elliot and Deino were having another picnic lunch. They'd laid out a checkered blanket in the grass, and brought out the PB & J's out. They'd let their Pokémon - Raichu, Hitmontop, Chikorita and Chinchou - out to have lunch with Deino. They were all happy, smiling and laughing and chatting away.

"So, Elliot, where're you from?" Rose asked, munching on a sandwich. "I've never seen a Deino before, so you must not be from around here."

"That's right," Elliot nodded. "I'm from Opelucid City, in Unova. The Gym Leader there specializes in Dragon-types, so I got my Deino so I could learn more about Dragon-types too. I came down here to Johto to become a better Trainer and go to the Johto League."

"Why didn't you start out back home?" Poppy inquired.

"Well, I want to better my battle skills," Elliot explained. "See, I wanna be the best Trainer that I can be before I go back home."

While the humans talked, the Pokémon ate. Elliot's Deino, a kind of Pokémon that never stopped biting and was particularly attracted to moving things, was suddenly distracted when it heard a rustling in the bushes. Snapping its mouth away, it made a beeline for the bush, and before it knew it, it was encased in a net that was being hauled up by a Rattata shaped hot air balloon.

"Deino!" Elliot hollered, jumping to his feet, as his Pokémon went up in the air.

"Not you losers again!" Poppy yelled, fists clenched. "Give back that Deino!"

"Never!" Rattata shouted down."And while we're at it, we'll take your Dratini too!"

A metal hand contraption came down from the balloon basket, straight at Dratini, and Poppy called, "Quick, Dratini, use Dragon tail!"

Dratini squealed as it knocked the contraption away effortlessly.

"Lily, use Razor Leaf to cut Deino free!" Rose added.

"Chiko!" replied the Grass-type, sending out a Razor Leaf.

Immediately, Deino began to fall through the air, racing towards the ground.

"I'll catch you, Deino!" Elliot yelled, as he dove to catch his friend. He didn't quite catch Deino per-say, but instead softened its fall by serving as a human landing pad. After being knocked a bit silly from the impact, Elliot mumbled, "Well, at least you're okay."

"That's not fair!" Trixie screamed out of frustration. "We never get any Pokémon!"

"Now, Raichu, finish them off with a Thunder Bolt!" Gage commanded.

"You shock 'em too, Chinchou!" Poppy added.

The two Electric-types sent out powerful shockwaves that really shook up Team Rocket. They quivered with the electricity for a moment, before their balloon exploded, and they went flying off over the horizon yet again.

"Thanks, you guys," Elliot smiled, hugging Deino as everyone settled down. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would've done if I lost Deino."

"It's no problem," Poppy assured him. "We're always running into those clowns. They're always trying to steal our Pokémon, but they never can." "

Hey, um, I don't know how to ask this…," Elliot mumbled, about to change the subject. "But can I travel with you guys? I've never been to Johto before, and I keep getting lost."

"Of course!" the trio responded, smiling in unison. "The more the merrier!"

So, another day set on the trio, which had now become a quartet. They'd met Gage's old rival, Felix, and added Elliot and Deino to the gang.


	7. Chapter 7

A new day rose on the quartet as they camped out by the shore of a river. Poppy snored away in her sleeping bag, curled up with her Dratini, who blew bubbles out its nose with every snore of its own. Gage was fast asleep, though his snoring wasn't nearly as bad as Poppy's. Elliot slept with Deino curled up outside of his sleeping bag and half on his feet. Lastly, there was Rose, who was sleeping in the most ridiculous position with Lily asleep in the most ridiculous position on top of her head.

Lily was the first one to wake up, after she rolled off Rose's head and hit the ground harder than she'd expected. She shook it off, then using her Vine Whip to re-adjust the flower she wore on her head. Glancing out over the river, Lily caught a glance of a wild Sunflora taking a drink from the other side. Knowing that her Trainer was the total Grass-type enthusiast, Lily starting slapping Rose with her Vine Whip, trying to wake her up before the Sunflora left.

"What the heck are you doing?" Rose mumbled as she came to consciousness.

"Chiko, Chiko!" hollered the Pokémon, using its vines to point at the Sunflora across the way.

"Oh, wow," Rose mused, seeing the Grass-type across the way. She pulled out her own PokéDex for a fact check.

The PokéDex said: "Sunflora, the Sun Pokémon. This smiling Pokémon loves the sun, but it also needs plenty of water to ensure healthy development."

"It's so cute!" Rose squealed, barely able to contain herself. "Wanna try to catch it, Lily?"

"Chiko!" the Pokémon agreed.

In one swift movement, Rose leapt from her sleeping bag, emerging fully dressed and ready to face the day, or at least catch Sunflora, while everyone else slept. Enthusiastically, she pulled out an empty PokéBall from her belt loop, and readied herself.

With all the excitement she could muster, she chucked the PokéBall across the river, and called, "Go, PokéBall!"

Rose and Lily watched with extreme anticipation as the PokéBall rolled in the grass, as Sunflora decided whether or not it wanted to be caught. It seemed like the longest minute ever, before Sunflora decided to stay inside of the PokéBall. Excited, Lily used its Vine Whip to grab the PokéBall from across the river for her Trainer, happily handing it to Rose, who jumped and screamed for joy, which effectively woke up the rest of the gang.

"What're you screaming about, Rose?" Poppy asked, irritated as she and Dratini sat up in the sleeping bag.

"I caught a Sunflora!" she screeched joyfully. Moving faster than lightning, she shoved the PokéBall in everyone else's faces, shouting, "Look! I caught a Sunflora!"

"Are you sure?" Gage inquired skeptically, breaking Rose from her joy. "Did you even battle it?"

"Well...no," Rose answered. "But I caught it, Gage, I did."

"Rose, you have to battle Pokémon," Elliot explained. "You can't just catch them."

"But I did!" she shouted stubbornly. "I'll show you! C'mon out, Sunflora!"

She tossed the PokéBall out, and to everyone else's surprise, a Sunflora did indeed emerge.

"Sunflora!" greeted the smiley Pokémon as it did a little dance. "Sunflora, Flora!"

"Isn't it just the most precious thing you ever did see?" Rose asked manically, slipping back into the frenzy that she went into around Grass-types. Dropping to her knees, she smiled like a maniac as she squeezed Sunflora's smiling cheeks and continued, "Just look at this adorable little face! You're so cute, Sunflora! I think I'll just call you Flora for short, is that okay?"

"Sunflora!" the Pokémon seemed to agree, as it returned its new Trainer's hug.

As Rose tied a Dandelion chain around Sunflora's neck, the other just stared at her in disbelief.

"So, she really did catch a Pokémon," Poppy mused. "Without battling it."

"Looks like it," Gage agreed, trying to figure it out.

"She didn't even battle it, did she?" Elliot asked.

"I think we would've heard a battle," Poppy replied. "And she said she didn't battle it."

"Well, what'll you know," sighed Gage. "Maybe she got lucky?"

"That Sunflora looks like it really likes here," Elliot observed. "Maybe it was just meant to be."

"We'll never know," Poppy shrugged. "All that matters is that Rose is happy with her new Pokémon."

"Mhm," agreed the two boys. They watched for another minute as Rose giggled, hugging Lily and her new friend, Flora.

"Do you think she's ever going to leave that Sunflora alone?" Poppy asked.

It was hours later as the sun was about to set, and the quartet had set up a new campsite. Poppy and Elliot were tending to a stew they intended to have for dinner. Deino chomped up the vegetables and other ingredients, and Dratini passed them to Elliot with its tail. Elliot dropped them into the stew, which Poppy stirred and seasoned. Rose was off, dancing with Lily and Flora, and Gage was a little ways off as well, training hard with all of his Pokémon.

"I don't know," Elliot shrugged. "I'm kinda more worried about Gage, though. He's been training all day. I just hope he doesn't wear out his Pokémon too much."

"Yeah," Poppy sighed in agreement, as she glanced over her shoulder at Gage, who was in the midst of his intense training session. "I wonder what's got him in such a crazy training mood?"

"I don't know," Elliot responded. "I don't know him as well as you do. I assumed he always trained like this, I was just worried about his Pokémon."

"No," Poppy said, shaking her head. "I've never seen him train like this before. I wonder what set him off to do this."

Meanwhile, a distance away, Gage, Ivysaur, Raichu and Hitmontop were working harder than they ever had in their lives. None of the Pokémon ever recalled this kind of hard training, not even when they were preparing for the Indigo League. Gage had Ivysaur using Razor Leaf to cut down trees, then have Raichu use a Thunderbolt powerful enough to set the tree on fire, and finally, have Hitmontop's Rapid Spin generate enough wind to put the flame out. He was also making them go as fast and as hard as possible, all while he ran laps, did pushups and situps, and lifted rocks as weights.

"Keep going guys!" hollered Gage. "We've got to be the strongest that we can be!"

"Um, Gage?" came Poppy's voice from behind him, as she tapped him on the shoulder, breaking him out of his workout daze.

"Can't you see I'm training?" Gage asked, a bit irked.

"Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to ask you about," Poppy replied. "Don't you think you've had enough for today? I think you've done enough training."

"But I've got to get stronger, Poppy," he explained to her with fierce determination. "I've got to be the strongest ever."

"But why?" Poppy asked. "What's this sudden obsession of yours with training today?"

Fists clenched, Gage explained, "Because I _have _to beat Felix. You saw and heard him yesterday, thinking he's all that. We met back in Kanto, on the day that we both got our starter Pokémon. I picked a Bulbasaur, and he picked a Charmander. He started making fun of me right then and there, saying his Charmander was so much stronger than my baby Bulbasaur. So we had a battle right there outside of Professor Oak's lab. His Charmander beat my Bulbasaur with one measly Flamethrower attack. After that, we met up all the time, and battled, and he always beat me. He always seemed to be one step ahead of me, and he had way too much confidence for his own good.

And then, we finally met up again at the Indigo League, where we were put together to battle in the Top Eight. He beat me, but just a hair - we were down to our last Pokémon, my Ivysaur and his Staryu. I clearly had the Type advantage, but somehow, his Staryu used a Rapid Spin and Hydro Pump combo that knocked Ivysaur clear out. I vowed that day that I'd beat him, and now that I saw him again, it's just made me want to work as hard as possible towards that goal."

"Oh," Poppy nodded. She understood better now, at least. "I get it, but I think you should still give yourself and your Pokémon a break."

"Yeah," Gage said. He was a bit embarrassed, and scratched the back of his head as he turned back to his Pokémon. "You're right."

Poppy gasped, pointing a finger, as she exclaimed, "Oh no! Hitmontop's spinning out of control!"

Gage watched, dumbfounded, with Poppy as they watched Hitmontop spinning uncontrollably. Gage fumbled, trying to think of what to do.

"Quick, Ivysaur, stop Hitmontop with your Vine Whip!" he called.

"Ivy!" the Pokémon yelped, sending out its vines. "Ivysaur!"

However, though Ivysaur's vines were able to wrap around Hitmontop securely, the Handstand Pokémon was spinning too fast to be stopped. So, Ivysaur just went spinning uncontrollably with its teammate, eventually flying off up into the air after Hitmontop collided with a rock.

"Oh no!" Poppy screamed.

"They're gonna hit the ground hard!" Elliot yelled, seeing what was happening.

Suddenly, just as Hitmontop and Ivysaur, all tangled up with Ivysaur's vines, were starting to fall towards the ground, a Charizard swooped in out of nowhere, grabbing the two Pokémon with its hands. To the surprise of the Trainers back on the ground, the Charizard set Hitmontop and Ivysaur safely back on the ground, untangled and everything.

"Wow, thank you!" Gage said to Charizard with the utmost gratitude.

"No problem, Geeky Gage," came a familiar and arrogant voice. "It's just too bad that your little Ivysaur can't seem to reach its final evolution yet, unlike my Charizard."

"Felix," spat Gage, fists clenched.

Chuckling, Felix emerged from the forest, and flicked his hair from his eyes, saying, "Don't act so surprised."

"I'm not," Gage countered. "But while you're here...will you battle me?"

"Battle you?" Felix laughed. This time, his laugh was more than an arrogant chuckle, this was actual thunderous laughter that Charizard chimed in on. "What's the point, Gage? We've battled time after time and I've won every time. Battling you again would be a complete waste of time."

"Then battle me," Poppy chimed in with her own fierce edge.

Felix stared at her, clearly taken aback, before regaining his usual cocky nature, and asked, "What Pokémon do you have besides that Dratini?"

"I have a Chikorita and a Chinchou," she informed him.

"Hm," he pondered. "No thanks."

"What?!" Poppy asked, frustrated and surprised.

"I just don't have time to battle people that I know I'll beat," Felix told her. "A measly Dratini, Chikorita and Chinchou are no match for any of my Pokémon. Why don't you challenge me again when your Dratini finally evolves into a Dragonite, hm? That would be a match for my Charizard here, if you Dratini evolves that far."

"What're you saying?" Poppy asked, irritated. "Are you saying that I'm not a good enough Trainer and that my Pokémon are too weak to evolve?"

"I'm just saying you haven't show anything to prove yourself as a Trainer yet," Felix replied. "Which gives me no reason to believe that you possess the skill to help your Pokémon evolve."

Now, more infuriated than ever, Poppy raced towards him full speed. Felix stuck out a hand right to her forehead, stopping her in her tracks, though her feet were still in full motion. The steam was nearly coming out of her ears and the veins nearly popped right out of her skull. Felix only let out one of his arrogant chuckles that seemed to becoming his signature trademark.

Suddenly, just as Charizard had swooped in out of nowhere minutes earlier, a net flew down from the sky out of nowhere. The net trapped Charizard, as well as Dratini, lifting them up into the air, as they struggled in the net.

Looking up into the air, the quartet and Felix saw that it was Team Rocket in their Rattata-shaped hot air balloon, chuckling maniacally.

"Not you again!" screamed Poppy.

"Oh yes, it's us again!" Trixie smiled. "And we've got your little Dratini and a Charizard to-boot!"

"Who're these losers?" Felix inquired. Now, he was angry that they'd captured his Charizard.

"It's Team Rocket again," Rose informed him, sprinting over with Flora and Lily by her side. "They're a group of idiots who always try to steal our Pokémon."

"Well, Charizard, use Flame Thrower to burn through that net!" Felix called.

Charizard tried to burn through, to no avail.

"How come that didn't work?" Felix inquired, clearly perplexed and frustrated.

"It's the best net money can buy!" Thomas yelled over the side of the balloon basket. "It's fireproof!"

"Okay, Dratini, try Dragon Tail to see if it'll get you out of that net!" Poppy called, trying to think quick on her feet.

However, though the Dragon Tail was impressive, it still didn't break through the net. Team Rocket laughed at the failed attempts, but Poppy only encouraged Dratini to keep trying.

"I know you can do it, Dratini!" she hollered. "I believe in you! Just keep trying your Dragon Tail, and I know you can get out of there!"

And then, to Team Rocket's absolute shock, the net did indeed break. Dratini and Charizard began to fall, and fall fast, but Charizard grabbed a hold of Dratini and flew the it and itself down to the ground, and to safety. Charizard handed Dratini to Poppy. Pokémon and Trainer exchanged a good hug, before Poppy released Dratini, and the two were ready to attack, and Team Rocket was already shaking in their boots.

"Flora, now it's time to try out all the practicing we've been doing today!" Rose chimed in, with her Sunflora. "Charge up that Solar Beam!"

"Go, Venomoth!" Trixie called, tossing her Venomoth out of the PokéBall. "Use Poison Powder!"

"Charizard, knock that stupid bug out with a Flamethrower," Felix told his Pokémon.

In one swift movement, Venomoth was completely fried by Charizard's Flamethrower, which left Team Rocket even more scared than they were before.

"Now, Flora, launch that Solar Beam!" Rose shouted, once she saw that Flora was ready.

"Join in with your Hyper Beam, Dratini!" called Poppy.

The two Pokémon launched their two powerful attacks, which combined into an even more powerful spiral, that really sent Team Rocket flying off in the distance. The quartet smiled, having defeated Team Rocket yet again.

"Thank you," Felix said, bowing his head in thanks as well as his Charizard did.

The quartet was shocked that those words were coming out of his mouth, and were even more surprised when he stepped forward, handing Poppy a bright reddish-orange flower. She accepted it, but was clearly confused, as she stared down at it.

"Huh?" she mumbled.

"It's a poppy, for you, Poppy," he explained. "Just a small token of my thanks. Remind me, that the next time we meet, that we'll need to battle with that Dratini of yours."

"Sure," Poppy smiled.

She looked up, but to her surprise and everyone elses', he was gone. He'd already ridden his Charizard off over the horizon.

With a great sparkle in her eyes, Rose approached Poppy, hands clasped, staring at the flower she held, saying, "Wow! A poppy for Poppy! Isn't that just the _most _romantic thing ever, Poppy?! I wish a boy had given _me _a flower!"

"C'mon, Rose, he's still a jerk," Poppy shook off, as she dropped the flower into the grass. "And I don't consider jerks to be romantic."


	8. Chapter 8

A few nights later, the quartet was almost to the Pokémon Center where they planned on spending the night at, when they hit an unexpected obstacle.

"The Pokémon Center is right over the mountain," Gage said, looking at his map with a flashlight.

It was already pretty dark, so he needed the flashlight. And Elliot needed to keep the blind Deino close by, or else he feared he'd lose it in the relative darkness.

"Great," Rose sighed. She was carrying Lily in her arms, who seemed just as tired as her Trainer. "I'm ready for a big dinner, a hot bath, and a good night's sleep in a comfy bed. Let's get there fast."

"Agreed," panted Poppy. "A relaxing bath sounds great."

"Uh-oh," Elliot said, as he came upon the path that went over the mountain. It was a path between two canyons, so there was no other way over the mountains besides this path. He turned back to his friends and added, "Looks like there's a bump in the road...or a huge lump, to be more accurate."

"What?" chimed in the other three, as they raced ahead to see what Elliot meant.

"Oh no," Gage mumbled, as they saw what was blocking the path. It was a giant Snorlax, in a deep sleep.

"Oh no!" Rose cried, falling to her knees. "This means I'll never get that hot bath!"

"Hm," Gage mumbled, pulling out his PokéDex.

It said: "Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon. Snorlax isn't satisfied until it's eaten about 900 pounds of food each day, after which it promptly goes to sleep."

"So, Snorlax will only wake up if it's hungry?" Rose groaned. "After 900 pounds of food, it could be days before it wakes up!"

"Yeah, there's no way of telling when it ate last," sighed Poppy. Suddenly, she noticed a little pink and round Pokémon jumping on Snorlax's head, like it was trying to wake it up. She asked, "What's that?"

"Looks like a Pokémon," Elliot replied. He pulled out his PokéDex for more info.

The PokéDex said: "Cleffa, the Star Shape Pokémon. Cleffa is the pre-evolved form of Clefairy. Their star shape has led some to believe that they reach the Earth riding on shooting stars. Strangely, many Cleffa are often found on nights of meteor showers."

"Strange, there's no meteor showers tonight," Gage mused.

"Maybe its lost," Rose wondered. "And it's trying to wake up Snorlax so it can use the path to go back home."

"That would make sense," Elliot agreed.

The quartet watched as Cleffa angrily jumped p and down on Snorlax's head, to no avail. Then, it tried jumping on Snorlax's enormous belly, which only cased the small pink Pokémon to catapult into the air. Poppy, the first to notice, raced to where she thought Cleffa would fall, so she could catch it. And, by some miracle, she managed to catch the little pink Pokémon.

"Are you okay, Cleffa?" she asked the Pokémon in her arms.

"Cleffa!" replied the Pokémon happily, saying it was okay. "Cleffa, Cleff!"

"Good!" Poppy grinned.

"Y'know, Cleffa can use an Attack called Wake-Up Slap," Gage piped up. "That might be able to wake Snorlax up."

"Hm," Poppy mumbled. Looking down at the little Cleffa she was still holding she asked, "Hey, Cleffa, do you think that you can try Wake-Up Slap to wake Snorlax up?"

"Cleffa!" replied the Pokémon with a grin.

The quartet watched as Cleffa leapt out of Poppy's arms and climbed up back to Snorlax, launching its Wake-Up Slap directly on Snorlax's face. The group didn't have much hope, seeing that Snorlax was so much bigger than little Cleffa, but, somehow, it worked, and Snorlax got it. It sat up slowly, brushing Cleffa off of its face. Poppy caught it once again luckily, and scrambled out of the way screaming with the rest of her friends as Snorlax made a beeline for the apple trees behind them in the forest.

"We've got to do something!" hollered Rose, who was still clutching Lily. "Snorlax is gonna eat the whole forest if we don't stop it!"

"Maybe one of us needs to try to catch it!" Elliot suggested.

"Alright!" Gage said, stepping up to take the initiative. Throwing out one of his PokéBalls he called, "Go, Raichu!"

"Rai, Rai!" the Pokémon said as it materialized, ready to battle.

"Raichu, Thunderbolt on Snorlax!" Gage commanded.

Raichu launched the powerful electric attack on Snorlax. Somehow, it worked, knocking Snorlax off its feet. Gage seized the opportunity, tossing out one of his empty PokéBalls. It seemed like it took forever for Snorlax to decide whether or not it wanted to stay in the PokéBall, but after quite some time, it decided to stay in there.

"Well," Gage mumbled, examining the PokéBall in his hand. "That was easy."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed. "At least Snorlax isn't going to eat the rest of the forest."

"Mhm," Rose nodded. "And now we can get to the Pokémon Center!"

The quartet started to head off up the mountain path, with Gage staring back at the PokéBall that now contained a Snorlax. Poppy thanked Cleffa, gave it a little hug, and set it back down so that it could find its way back home. She picked up the pace to join her friends, and they climbed over the path and went to the Pokémon Center.

Not too long after that, the quartet had arrived at the Pokémon Center, and was enjoying the large hot baths that the Center provided. Lily, Dratini, Chikorita, Ivysaur and Deino had joined their Trainers and were enjoying the hot baths just as much as the humans were. Everyone had a nice, full belly, since they'd had a wonderful dinner, and was planning on going to sleep in their comfy beds as soon as they were done.

Yawning, Rose announced, "I think I'm going to call it a night. Lily and I are really tired."

"Okay, I think I'll go with you," Poppy said, as she followed Rose out of the bath. Just as she followed Rose, Dratini followed her, leaving the two boys behind.

Back in the room that they were staying in for the night, the girls changed out of their bathing suits. Poppy slipped into her jeans and the black t-shirt she usually wore under her jacket, and sat cross-legged on the bottom bunk, brushing out her long wine-colored hair, with Dratini curled up at her side. Rose was fast asleep on the top bunk, in floral pajamas, limbs hanging off the edge of the bed, as Lily snored, fast asleep as well on top of Rose's head.

"Nice to be in a bed again, huh?" Poppy asked Dratini with a grin, giving it a good pat on the head. "And it'll be really nice to sleep in a bed tonight."

She tucked her brush back into her backpack, and started to tuck herself in under the covers, when a knocking noise at the window caused her to jump. Dratini did the same, and Pokémon and Trainer peered around the beam of the bunk bed to try and see what the noise was. Poppy glanced to Dratini, who gave her an understanding kind of nod, and slithered on over to the table by the window.

It peered out said window, and saw the little Cleffa from earlier standing on the top of a bush and knocking on the window. Turning back to Poppy, Dratini used its tail to point at the Cleffa at the window, incessantly squealing at her.

"What is it, Dratini?" Poppy inquired, hesitantly making her way to Dratini and the window.

Dratini squealed again, pointing its tail at the window ever faster than it had been before. Poppy stepped forward and saw the little Cleffa at the window, seeming as if it wanted to be let in. With an amused and slightly confused sort of sigh, Poppy pried open the window, allowing the happy little Cleffa to bounce inside, and right into Poppy's arms.

"Cleffa!" squealed the little pink Pokémon, as it wriggled happily.

"Hi there, Cleffa," Poppy replied, still slightly confused to as why Cleffa came back. "Did you follow us here?"

"Cleffa," replied the Pokémon. "Cleff, Cleffa, Cleff!"

"Well, you can stay the night with us if you want," Poppy told it. "Isn't that right, Dratini?"

Dratini squealed in agreement with a smile. Poppy and Dratini climbed back into their bed. Poppy set Cleffa down, and it and Dratini started having a friendly conversation for a few minutes, while Poppy watched them with a smile.

A few minutes later, Poppy got under the covers again, and Dratini followed suit, curling up with its Trainer under the blankets. Cleffa, feeling left out, smiled and then leapt right between Poppy and Dratini, cuddling up with the blankets and onto the pillow. Though Dratini and Poppy were surprised at first, they eventually settled in with Cleffa, and all three had a good night's sleep.

The next morning, after everyone was rested, dressed, and had had a good breakfast, the quartet was preparing to head out of the Pokémon Center, and go to the not-so-distant Violet City Gym so that Poppy, Gage and Elliot could obtain their first Gym Badges. And, that little Cleffa was still in Poppy's arms, since it seemed to refuse to be anywhere else.

"Seems like you've got a new friend, Poppy," Elliot observed, as the four met up in the lobby. "That little Cleffa just won't leave you alone."

"I think its because it can't find any of its friends or family," Poppy replied. "And it trusts me since I caught it when it went flying off of Snorlax."

"That makes sense," Gage nodded. "Anyway, are you guys ready to go?"

"Mhm!" Rose affirmed, as Lily nodded in her arms. "Because as soon as you guys get your Gym Badges, I can go compete in my first Contest!"

"But you've never even practiced or anything," Gage reminded her, which clearly was the wrong thing to say.

"I still can do it!" Rose screamed in his face. "I have two Grass-type Pokémon, which are the best kind of Pokémon, and I'll win with two of the best kind of Pokémon on my team!"

"But what if you come up against a Fire-type?" Gage inquired.

"Or Ice?" Elliot added.

"Poison?" Gage continued.

"Flying?" Elliot added.

"And what about the fact that you'll be bound to face Coordinators who've been competing in Contests for years and you've never even battled?" Poppy asked.

Steaming with rage, just like Lily, Rose hollered, "There's a first time for everything and this'll be the first time that I win!"

The other three winced, and backed off, fearing Rose's anger even if she was smaller and younger than all the rest of them. So, they shut up, and finally headed out the door, and straight into the faces of Team Rocket, who'd been staked out all night waiting for them.

"Team Rocket!" exclaimed the quartet, angry.

"That's right!" exclaimed Team Rocket.

"And we're here to take your Dratini, and that Deino, and that adorable little pink blob you have," Trixie explained, a sinister smile on her face.

"Never!" shouted Poppy.

Just as she spoke, Rattata shot a net gun out at them, effectively capturing Dratini, Deino, and Lily. Poppy was able to save Cleffa, still holding it in your arms.

"That's not fair, you can't just take Pokémon!" Poppy hollered.

"Then let's battle for it!" screamed Thomas. Throwing his PokéBall, he yelled, "Let's go, Poliwrath!"

"Poli!" exclaimed the Pokémon as it emerged from its PokéBall.

"Water gun, Poliwhirl!" called Thomas.

Suddenly, Cleffa leapt out of Poppy's arms, landing on its feet, and used some kind of attack that repelled Poliwrath's Water Gun, and sent it back at Team Rocket with double the power. The Water Gun blast forced Team Rocket to go soaring off into the air, though they'd dropped the net full of Pokémon. It didn't take long for Deino to chomp its way out, and all the other Pokémon to climb out and reunite with their Trainers.

"That was amazing!" Gage said. "Cleffa just used Light Screen."  
"I didn't even know that Cleffa could use that attack until it evolved," Poppy mumbled, scratching her head.

"But look at Cleffa now," Elliot said. "It's...I think it's evolving."

The other three Trainers looked to where Cleffa was, and sure enough it was glowing, and in a matter of minutes, Cleffa had evolved into a Clefairy with a large smile on its face.

"Wow!" Poppy exclaimed. "Clefairy!"

She consulted her PokéDex, which said: "Clefairy, the evolved form of impish Pokémon is friendly and peaceful. It is believed to live inside Mt. Moon, although very few have ever been seen by humans."

"Clefairy!" the Pokémon said happily, as it leapt back into Poppy's arms. "Clefairy, Fairy!"

"You were great, Clefairy," Poppy smiled. "You saved us from Team Rocket! Thanks so much!"

"Clefairy!" the Pokémon grinned in response.

"So, Clefairy, I'd love it if you came with us," Poppy told it. "I really consider you a friend. But, if you don't want to, that's okay too. I just thought I'd ask."

"CLEFAIRY!" the Pokémon screamed, overwhelmed with joy as it smothered Poppy in a breathtaking hug, as if it couldn't have waited for Poppy to ask.

So, the quartet, now with Snorlax and Clefairy, left the Pokémon Center for Violet City. They were excited and nervous for their first Gym Battles and Contest.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Chikorita, Chinchou & Clefairy**

**GAGE's current team:**

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora)**

**ELLIOT's current (known) team:**

**Deino**


	9. Chapter 9

The quartet was only a stone's throw from Violet City, but, because of Rose's intense hunger, they had to take a break for lunch. Gage had asked her a million times if she could wait five or ten minutes to find a restaurant to have lunch at in Violet City, but she insisted that she couldn't, so they set up a place to have a picnic lunch on the side of the path. Poppy and Dratini made the sandwiches for everyone, while Elliot and Deino, both anxious for their first Johto Gym Battle, were taking a walk in the surrounding woods while Elliot ate his sandwich.

Sighing, Elliot took a seat on a rock that he found, and released his other Pokémon he'd brought with him from Unova - Oshawott, Ferroseed and Litwick.

"So, are you guys all ready for our first Gym Battle today?" he asked. He was smiling, in an attempt to cover his own nervousness about the event.

His Pokémon all responded with smiles of their own, seeming much less nervous than their Trainer felt. That gave Elliot some reassurance. If his Pokémon felt confident and ready, than he had a better chance of getting his badge today.

"Well, good," he smiled again. He took out bowls for each of his Pokémon and filled them with Pokémon food, handing one to each of his friends, and said, "Here you go, guys. Eat up!"

So they did start to eat, as Elliot went to finishing the last of his sandwich, when, suddenly, a purple streak of a Pokémon swooped in, stealing the last half of Elliot's and Oshawott's bowl of Pokémon food.

"Hey!" Elliot called, rising to his feet. Oshawott did the same, leaping on the rock by its Trainer, shaking its fist. "Get back here!"

In a minute, Elliot found the culprit - a Gligar sitting in a nearby tree, laughing as it devoured the sandwich and the Pokémon food. However, as soon as Gligar tasted how delicious the food it had stolen was, it flew back at Elliot, landing directly on his face, where it stuck like glue. Elliot struggled to peel the purple Pokémon off of his face, but when he did, he was really smoking with anger.

"That does it!" he hollered. "Oshawott, use Razor Shell!"

Oshawott, just as irritated as its Trainer, followed directions, and its Razor Shell Attack scored a direct hit on Gligar. Gligar, now slightly injured, was not all that irritated due to its happy-go-lucky attitude, but decided to play along, and countered by coming in with a Tackle.

"Dodge, and use Water Gun!" called Elliot.

Oshawott did as it was told, and used a powerful Water Gun that knocked Gligar straight into a tree, with extreme force. Seeing that the Pokémon was nearly knocked out, Elliot threw an empty PokéBall out at it, and waited to see if Gligar decided to stay inside or not. When it did decide to stay inside of the PokéBall, Elliot let out a relieved sigh, and picked it up.

"Well, I always thought Gligar was cool," he muttered. "But this one just seems like a hand full."

After Elliot had rejoined the group and had shown off his new Pokémon, the quartet started their walk into Violet City. Out of everyone, Poppy was the most amazed to be in the middle of a city all of a sudden. She'd barely been out of Rowan Town in her lifetime, and when she had left, she'd always been with her brother. But now, here she was, without her brother and with her friends, ready for her first Gym Battle and to watch Rose in her first Pokémon Contest.

"Look!" screeched Rose, as she and Lily sprinted to a large flyer on the side of a building. Smiling and pointing at it manically, she screamed, "The Pokémon Contest is this Evening! We've got to run if I want to register!"

Before the other three could really process what Rose said, she and Chikorita had sprinted off, faster than lightning, in a cloud of dust. Elliot, Poppy and Gage only chuckled, then sprinting off after them with Deino and Dratini at their sides.

They found Rose and Lily in the lobby of the Contest Hall, just after they'd finished registering. The two seemed happier than ever, prancing around with stars in their eyes as they watched all the other Coordinators with their Pokémon preparing for the Contest.

"Rose," panted Gage as the group caught up to them. "Are you sure you really want to enter the Contest? Are you sure you're prepared?"

"Of course I'm sure that I'm prepared!" Rose hollered at him, angry. "And I'm going to win the Contest and all of you are going to watch me win it and eat your words!"

"Okay," the three mumbled, trembling. Rose was cute and sweet, but you did not want to mess with her when she was angry.

"Good!" she smiled. "Now, I'm Number 31 in the Contest, so watch for me! Here are you Contest Passes to get in."

"Thanks," the other three smiled.

"See you guys soon!" she waved, as she and Lily sprinted off, to wait behind the scenes until it was their turn to compete.

"There's really no stopping that Rose, huh?" Elliot chuckled as he and his friends took their seats in the Contest Hall. He'd put Deino in its PokéBall temporarily, since its biting was getting a little out of control around all the people.

"Yeah," Gage nodded as he took a seat. "I just hope she's not too disappointed when she doesn't win."

"Oh, give her a chance," Poppy said, as Dratini coiled up comfortably on her lap. "She might just surprise us all."

"Unless she comes up against a Fire-type, Flying-type, Poison-type, Bug-type, or Ice-type in the battle rounds," Gage told her.

"Shh, the Contest is starting!" Poppy exclaimed, whacking him so she'd shut up.

Suddenly just as the Contest Announcer, Katherine, came to announce the first Coordinator, one of Elliot's Pokémon let itself out of the PokéBall. To the surprise of the three, it was Elliot's Gligar that had released itself. It seemed pretty happy, though, as it took a seat on Elliot's head, much to his dismay.

"Wanna watch the Contest, huh, Gligar?" Elliot chuckled, as he tried to get comfortable with the purple Pokémon on his head. "Well, okay."

Backstage, Rose was preparing Lily for their debut Contest performance. She'd put even more pretty flowers around the leaf that grew from Lily's head than usual. Rose herself had changed into a nice outfit for the Contest, a below-the-knee length dress that was white with red roses and pink lilies. She'd put her green hair, which she usually wore down, into two long braids, which she'd intertwined flowers into. She also had on a pair of ballet flats that resembled roses and pearl bracelets on her wrists.

"Are you ready for this, Lily?" Rose inquired, kneeling down to adjust the flowers on her Pokémon's head.

"Chiko!" the Pokémon answered, seeming happy and excited. "Chiko, Chiko!"

"Good," Rose smiled. "Because we're really gonna go give them a show, aren't we!"

"Chiko!" Lily replied, leaping into Rose's arms.

After the two shared a quick, but meaningful hug, Rose stood up, taking a deep breath. She said, "Well, let's go get 'em."

"Coordinator Number 31 to the stage, please," called a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Time to shine, Lily," Rose said, calling her Pokémon back into its PokéBall, only temporarily.

Elliot, Gage and Poppy stood to clap as they watched Rose make an entrance to the stage. They were all in we of her in her Contest attire as well.

"Now everyone, give a warm welcome to our next Coordinator!" Katherine announced. "Welcome Rose Wood of Cherrygrove City, in her debut Contest with her Chikorita, Lily!"

The audience cheered and applauded, as Rose looked confident down on the stage. Tossing out Lily's floral PokéBall, she called, "Alright, Lily, c'mon out into the spotlight!"

Lily emerged from her PokéBall, swirling through the air to land gracefully onto her feet in the middle of the stage.

"Alright, Lily, let's get started by combining your Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy!" Rose called.

Lily followed commands, sending out the two scent attacks in a graceful whirlwind. The attacks melded together into a soft pink color, that then spread over the judges and the audience. Both parties seemed to like it, as Rose's friends in the audience heard people around them saying they felt calm, that it smelled amazing and their headaches were soothed. It seemed to be a great grand entrance - soothing and calming the crowd before Rose and Lily dazzled them.

"Now, Magical Leaf, Lily!" Rose added.

Lily launched the Magical Leaf attack, which formed the shape of a heart, then a flower in the air overhead. The crowd cheered, as the judges stared up in awe.

"What a lovely use of Magical Leaf!" Nurse Joy commented from the judges table. "I've never seen it used in such an artistic manner!"

"You heard it from Nurse Joy, folks," Katherine said. "That Magical Leaf was lovely and artistic!"

"Okay, Lily, finish it off with a Solar Beam!" Rose called.

"Solar Beam?!" Elliot, Gage and Rose all inquired at once.

But, to their surprise, Lily pulled off a beautiful Solar Beam that swirled around in the air as it crashed into the Magical Leaves that were still suspended in the air, creating a fireworks-like explosion of light and beauty. That really got that crowd roaring, and amazing comments from the judges all around.

"What a beautiful and awesome debut performance from our pair from Cherrygrove City!" Katherine announced when Lily and Rose took their bows. "Thank you, Rose and Lily!"

Now all the pair had to do was wait to see if they'd make it through to the next round.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Chikorita, Chinchou & Clefairy**

**GAGE's current team: **

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita) & Flora (Sunflora**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar**


	10. Chapter 10

"And here are the faces of the 16 Coordinators going onto the Battle Round!" Katherine announced, as the TV screen scrambled up their faces. When they stopped, she said, "And there they are!"

Elliot, Gage, and Poppy gasped as they saw the faces up on the screen - Rose's face was fourth to last.

"Yes!" Poppy shrieked out of happiness. "She made it!

"What?!" Gage asked, shocked.

"She did try her best," Elliot added, sticking up for her. "I mean, for a first-timer, she did really good. And she deserved to make it."

"We better go find her," Poppy said, standing. "There's some time between now and the battle round, so we should go tell her how great she was until it starts back up."

Meanwhile, Rose sat outside on a bench, with Lily by her side. Her face was buried in her hands, which muffled her cries. She wasn't crying because she was upset, oh no, quite the contrary - she qas cryig because she was so happy, unbelievably happy. Lily nudged her Trainer, trying to get her to stop crying.  
"We did so good," cried Rose, pulling Lily in for a hug. "I'm so proud of you, Lily. You were amazing and beautiful and did way better than even I expected. And we're going to do our best to win that ribbon because you deserve it more than any other Pokémon in this Contest!"

"Chiko," the Grass-type smiled at its Trainer. It stood on two legs, so that its front legs were on Rose's shoulders, and wiped Rose's tears away with her leaf. "Chiko!"

"Thanks, Lily," Rose smiled. "You're the best Pokémon I could ask for."

Out of nowhere, a new voice growled, "Get out of here, you runt. I don't need you."

"Huh?" Rose mumbled, looking over her shoulder.

It was a boy, one she recognized from the Contest. His deep purple hair was styled for the Contest, and he was still in his dress suit. She remembered him - he'd used an adorable little Bulbasaur in the first round.

She watched, as the boy crossed his arms and turned his nose up at his Bulbasaur, which was begging at his feet. She noticed its star-shaped marking on its forehead and the tears in its red eyes as it pleaded to its Trainer.

"I told you," the boy said. "I already released you. You need to stop following me, because I don't need any losers on my team. Get outta here."

"Hey!" Rose interjected, jumping to her feet. She hated seeing Pokémon being treated poorly, but she especially hated seeing Grass-types being treated in such a way. "Don't talk to Pokémon like that!"

"Hm," the boy chuckled. "I'm just giving it a healthy dose of reality. I don't need losers on my team. I caught this Bulbasaur because it kept following me around, and figured I'd give it a chance, even if Grass-types are the weakest kind out there. But it's horrible, just like all other Grass-types, and I just don't want to waste my time with it anymore."

"Grass-types aren't the weakest!" Rose hollered, manically angry. "They're the best, most powerful and beautiful type of Pokémon in the world!"

"Who are you kidding?" laughed the boy. "You, out of all people, should know that Grass-types are the worst. I saw on your registration that you only have a Chikorita and a Sunflora. And it only proves my point that Grass-types are the worst, since you barely even made it past the first round."

"You didn't make it at all!" Rose countered.

"I didn't need to," the boy told her. "I already have my five ribbons. I just keep on getting more to get better and prove how good I am."

"What?!" Rose asked, shocked. To her surprise, the boy shoved a Ribbon Case in her face, that was jammed full of Ribbons - eight, to be exact. She was in awe now, exclaiming, "No way!"

"Mhm," the boy nodded, tucking it back into his pocket. "So I'm not all that upset that I didn't make it. And besides, just proves my point that Bulbasaur's a weakling."

With that, the boy turned on his heels and left, leaving Bulbasaur, Rose and Lily in his wake.

"Hmph," Rose sighed with a scowl. Then, she kneeled down to the boy's abandoned Bulbasaur, giving it a good head and bulb rub, saying, "I don't think you're a weakling. I think you're great. I love Grass-types, and you seem amazing. Your first round performance was dazzling, especially that Petal Dance! And you're adorable on top of all of that!"

"Bulba," the Pokémon responded, nuzzling Rose's knee. "Bulbasaur."

"Chiko," Lily said, once Bulbasaur was done. Bulbasaur looked at her for a moment, and then saw Lily extending its vines, and did the same. They shook vines, and exchanged smiles.

"Oh, you should meet Flora too!" Rose said, letting her other Pokémon out.

"Sunflora!" exclaimed the sunny Pokémon.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur smiled. Bulbasaur shook with its vines, and Sunflora used its leaves.

"Well, you guys seem like pals," Rose grinned. "Y'know, Bulbasaur, if you want to, you can come along with us. I'm planning on being the world's greatest Grass-type Trainer."  
"Bulba!" exclaimed the Pokémon happily, tackling Rose to the ground, and then licking her face.

Laughing, Rose rolled over, picking one of the buttercup flowers that grew on the side of the sidewalk. She offered it to Bulbasaur, who nearly started crying with happiness at the gesture from a human. It accepted the buttercup, which it promptly ate.

Rose laughed again, and asked, "Can I call you Buttercup from now on?"

"Bulbasaur!" the Pokémon exclaimed, going back to licking Rose's face in a loving kind of way.

"I'll take that as a yes," Rose grinned.

She pulled a spare PokéBall out, and used it for Bulbasaur. It decided to stay inside faster than she ever would've expected, so she promptly released it, and pulled it in for a big group hug with Lily and Flora.

"Rose, there you are!" came Poppy's voice, as she, Elliot, Gage, Gligar, Dratini and Clefairy came racing towards them.

"Yeah, here I am," she grinned. She stood up, holding her new friend, Buttercup, while Lily and Flora stood by her side.

"You were great," Poppy told her in a completely genuine tone. "I'm really proud of you, Rose. That was an amazing performance, and if I was the judge, I'd give you that ribbon right now."

"Well, thank you, Poppy," Rose replied with a beam.

"Wait!" Gage interrupted, surprised. "Where'd you get that Bulbasaur?!"

"Oh," Rose mumbled, forgetting that everyone hadn't met Buttercup yet. "This is Buttercup, my new Pokémon."

"You caught another Pokémon with no battling?!" Elliot inquired.

"That's right!" Rose nodded, flashing a peace sign as Buttercup grinned in her arms.

"It's just way too easy for her," sighed Gage.

"Why isn't it that easy for us?" whined Thomas, from where Team Rocket was hiding in a nearby bush. "If that little brat was on our side, we'd be full of Grass-types to send to the boss!"

"Too bad, once a brat, always a brat," sighed Rattata.

"Not so," Trixie chimed in. "If we kidnapped that little flower-loving brat and left her out as bait, I'm sure we could attract all the Grass-type Pokémon that the world can offer!"

"Not a bad idea," Rattata replied.

"Too bad we keep losing to the brats," sighed Thomas. "Why even keep trying? We'll just lose."

"Well we won't win with that attitude, that's for sure," Trixie spat at him. "Just follow my plan, and we'll have that little flower brat in our hands before you know it."

So, Team Rocket snuck away, to hatch a plan, while the quartet re-entered the building for the battle rounds. Rose and Lily went backstage, and the other three and Gligar, Dratini and Clefairy, took their seats in the stands. Dratini had its head on the railing, while Clefairy sat comfortably in Poppy's lap. It was clear to everyone that Clefairy was really enjoying watching the Contest.

"You love the Contest, huh?" Poppy inquired with a smile.

"Clefairy!" replied the pink Pokémon with a smile of its own.

"Maybe we'll have to enter the next one," Poppy suggested.

Clefairy seemed happy with the prospect, but Elliot quickly shushed them as Rose's battle came up. She was going up against a girl with soft blonde hair and a glittering baby blue dress.

"And here we have our next battle!" announced Katherine. "This battle will be between Frostine of Mahogany Town and Rose of Cherrygrove City! This battle will last for five minutes. The Coordinator with the most points at the end of the time limit will win, unless one Pokémon is deemed unable to battle before said time. Let the battle begin!"

Rose started things out, calling, "Let's go, Lily!"

Throwing out a PokéBall of her own, Frostine called, "Time to shine, Swinub!"

"This battle will be fought between Rose's charming Chikorita and Frostine's sweet little Swinunb!" announced Katherine.

"How d'you think this'll go, Gage?" Elliot inquired.

Arms crossed, Gage answered, "Well, Swinub is an Ice and Ground type. Grass-types like Lily are weak against Ice-types, but strong against Ground-types, so it could go either way."

"You can do it, Rose and Lily!" Poppy shouted from the stands.

"Clefairy!" Clefairy hollered, backing up its Trainer.

Rose nodded, hearing the encouragement from her friends in the stands. It gave her an extra boost of confidence going into the battle.

"Alright, Swinub, let's start things out with Powder Snow!" commanded Frostine.

Swinub launched the attack, sending a sparkling breeze full of small snow crystals towards Lily.

"Not good," Gage commented. "Frostine's using Ice Attacks."

"Mhm," Poppy and Elliot nodded.

"Counter with Razor Leaf!" countered Rose.

Lily obeyed, knocking the snow back with a powerful and beautiful Razor Leaf.

Clearly frustrated, Frostine called, "Ice Shard!"

Swinub obeyed its Trainer, sending shards of ice flying towards Lily.

"Magical Leaf!" called Rose.

Lily did as she was told, using Magical Leaf to slice through and destroy the shards of ice, before they hit Swinub, scoring a direct hit.

"And Rose knocks a second Ice attack away, and manages to beautifully use Magical Leaf to attack Swinub," Katherine announced. "That'll knock some points off for Frostine."

"Dig!" called Frostine.

Immediately, Swinub dug underground. Neither Lily nor Rose was able to detect where Swinub was, or where it would emerge.

"Keep an eye out, Lily," Rose reminded her Pokémon.

"Ice Shard!" Frostine commanded.

In the blink of an eye, Swinub emerged from the ground with a graceful leap, firing a powerful Ice Shard attack at Lily. Not only was it powerful and a direct hit, the ice shards reflected the light so that they projected rainbows over the audience, causing them to drop their jaws in awe.

"What a beautiful use of Ice Shard to reflect light and inflict damage!" Katherine announced. "Now, Frostine is making a fierce comeback while taking major points away from Rose!"

"That didn't look good," winced Poppy.

"Sweet scent, Lily!" called Rose.

Lily launched Sweet Scent. At first, Frostine was slightly confused at why Rose was calling an attack that didn't inflict any damage, but then she saw why. Any Pokémon was attracted to the scent of Sweet Scent, but Swinub, a Pokémon with extraordinary smelling abilities, was super attracted to the smell, so it drew Swinub close to Lily for an attack.

"Use Vine Whip to bind up Swinub and hold it up towards the ceiling!" Rose called. Lily did as she was told, and then Rose added, "Now, give Swinub a good Magical Leaf while you toss it!"

So, Lily launched Swinub into the air, in the midst of one of Lily's most powerful and beautiful. Even Frostine could clearly see that Swinub was being seriously injured.

Swinub landed on the ground, wincing from the attack, but Frostine called, "Dig, and then Ice Beam!"

Swinub was underground again, and Lily had no idea where it'd come up. Out of nowhere, Swinub launched itself from underground right over Lily, and then shot an Ice Beam at her, effectively freezing her inside of beautifully sparkly ice. The crowd cheered, and the rest of Rose's points were drained away. She sighed, but then smiled, knowing that she did her best, as Lily freed herself from the ice.

"And so Frostine, of Mahogany Town and her Swinub take the victory!" announced Katherine.

The crowd cheered, as Frostine and Swinub then took a bow. Once they were done, they walked to Lily and Rose, and shook hands.

"That was a great battle, Rose," Frostine told her. "I was really worried."

"Thanks," Rose grinned. "Your Swinub is great, and so cute."

"And so is Lily," Frostine smiled, petting the Grass-type. "I've never seen such a pretty Chikorita before."

"Thanks," Rose repeated. "And good luck."

"Thank you. Good luck to you too, Rose," Frostine replied.

Suddenly, a metal claw descended from the ceiling, capturing Rose by the waist. Everyone gasped, as Team Rocket lifted her into their balloon, which they'd somehow managed to get through a hole in the ceiling.

"Team Rocket!" Rose screamed, struggling to free herself.

"Hey, brat!" Rattata greeted. "Thanks for being bait! Since Grass-types love you, we'll be using you as plant food!"

"No way!" Poppy hollered.

Before she could command Dratini into an attack, Clefairy sent out a Gyro Ball Attack, spinning rapidly through the air, slicing right through the metal that held Rose. Lily used her Vine Whip to help Rose safely to the ground.

"Wow," Gage mumbled in awe. "Clefairy just used Metronome, which turned into a Gyro Ball!"

"Clefairy!" exclaimed the happy Pokémon, landing back in its Trainer's arms.

"You're great, Clefairy," Poppy praised. "Now, Dratini, use Hyper Beam to blast those losers out of here!"

Dratini used the attack, which sent the trio blasting out of the building, and through the air, screaming as they went.

"I told you we always lose!" whined Thomas.

"Oh, shut it!" yelped Trixie, effectively shutting him up as they soared through the air.

"We're flying away again!" the three screamed in unison, as they disappeared over the horizon.

And so, another day set on the quartet. Clefairy's power was revealed, Rose took in an abandoned Bulbasaur and competed in her first Contest, and the quartet defeated Team Rocket once again.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Chikorita, Chinchou & Clefairy**

**GAGE's current team: **

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora) & Buttercup (Bulbasaur)**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here's chapter 11! I can't believe I've written this much of this fanfiction, and I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit! **

**Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!**

* * *

In the two days after Rose's first Contest, both Gage and Elliot had managed to get their Gym Badges from the Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner. It was Poppy's turn now to battle for her first Gym Badge. She'd be doing that later this afternoon. Currently, she was in the town's Pokémon Center, using the video phone to make a call to her brother, Mitchell.

"Hi, Poppy!" Mitchell greeted through the screen.

"Hey, Mitch," she smiled. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah," he agreed. "So today's your first Gym Battle, huh?"

"That's right," she nodded. "Wanna see all my new Pokémon?"

"Of course!"  
"Alright, everyone out!" she called, tossing out all her PokéBalls.

Out came Chikorita, Chinchou and Clefairy, while Dratini was already at her side.

"Wow," Mitchell said, peering closer to the video camera. "Chikorita, Chinchou, Clefairy and your old pal Dratini, huh? Pretty cool, little sis."

"Thanks," Poppy smiled.

"Can I give you a quick suggestion?" Mitchell then asked. After seeing Poppy's nod, he told her, "Well, I know that the Gym Leader you're going up against is a Flying-type specialist. As you know, Flying-types are weak to Electric-types. So, I wanted to know if you wanted me to send you Hannah."

Hannah was Poppy's favorite Mareep back home at the research lab. Poppy had watched her hatch when she was little, back when Poppy's grandmother ran the research lab, and the two became fast friends. Poppy loved tending to the Mareep anyways, but she really loved playing with and caring for tiny Hannah. She hadn't taken Hannah with her on her journey though, because Hannah was very skittish, and too attached to the herd of Mareep to leave them for an extended period of time.

"That'd be great," Poppy smiled. Then, her smile faltered, and Mitchell noticed.

"What's wrong?" Mitchell inquired, seeing Poppy's falling expression.

Poppy chewed on her bottom lip, worried to tell her brother what was really on her mind. So, she kept quiet, and smiled again and said, "I'm fine. Go on and send Hannah."

"Alright," Mitchell sighed, though he knew something was really up with his little sister, even if he was only seeing her over the phone. He plugged in Hannah's PokéBall to the PokéBall Transporter and then said, "Okay, she should be there."

Just as he said, Poppy received the PokéBall on her end of the line. She then thanked her brother, who wished her good luck, and ended the call. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, opened them again, and walked out of the Pokémon Center, as prepared as possible for her first Gym Battle.

Not so later, Poppy found herself standing on one side of the Violet City Gym, facing off with Falkner, the Gym Leader. Gage, Elliot and Rose sat behind her on the guest bench, with Deino and Lily joining them. Falkner's students had their own bench in the middle.

This was the day that Poppy had waited so long for, and now, she had no idea how she felt about everything. Dratini, still loyally by her side, did its best to encourage its Trainer.

"Are you ready, Miss Smith?" inquired Falkner, the Gym Leader, from his end.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she nodded, putting her best game face on.

"Okay then," the referee nodded, putting his arms into position. "This Gym Battle will be between the Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner, and the challenger, Poppy Smith of Rowan Town. This battle will be three-on-three and substitutions will be allowed. The Gym Leader will select the first Pokémon. Commence the battle!"

"Go, Hoothoot!" Falkner commanded, sending in the Hoothoot that had previously been perched on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, on the otherside, Poppy struggled. She knew Electric-types had the advantage, but she also wanted to give another Pokémon a chance. She was torn, so she just grabbed a PokéBall and threw it out, releasing Chinchou.

"Chinchou," remarked Falkner with a kind of grin. "So, you think you have the automatic upper hand just because you're using an Electric-type? I'll prove that notion wrong. Hoothoot, use Tackle!"

"Dodge it, Chinchou!" Poppy called.

Chinchou inched out of the way just in time as Hoothoot swooped in for a Tackle. Instead of looking frustrated, Falkner retained his calm and serious demeanor.

"Take down, Hoothoot," he commanded.

Poppy countered, by saying, "Chinchou, say exactly where you are and wait for me."

"Chin," the Pokémon nodded, putting on a brave face as it prepared itself and shut its eyes.

"What's she doing?!" Rose asked, concerned. "Chinchou will get really hurt if it takes on a Take Down!"

"I think Poppy knows what she's doing," Elliot assured her.

"Yeah," Gage nodded. "I have an idea that I know what she's doing."

Just as Hoothoot was mere centimeters away from making contact with its powerful attack, Poppy called, "Now, Chinchou, Discharge!"

"Chinchou!" the Pokémon shrieked, releasing a powerful electric attack that scored a direct hit. It was extremely effective against Hoothoot, who passed out.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle!" the referee called. "Chinchou is the winner!"

Falkner called his Hoothoot back into its PokéBall, seemingly unaffected, as he said, "Great job, Hoothoot."

Then, he pulled out his next PokéBall, which he tossed out. A Dodrio emerged from it, materializing on his end of the floor.

"Dodrio?" Poppy asked, slightly confused. "Dodrio can't fly."

"Well, if that's what you think, you're about to be proven wrong," Falkner told her. "Jump, and use Agility, Dodrio!"

Amazingly, Dodrio launched itself into the air, so that it looked as though it could've been flying.

"Now, Quick Attack!" Falkner commanded, as Dodrio landed back on the ground. The leap into the air had Chinchou effectively confused.

"Chinchou, do your best to give that big bird a shock!" Poppy called.

Though Chincho tried its best, it couldn't keep track of Dodrio as it raced forwards. It tried sending out multiple electric attacks, all of which missed by just enough room that they were rendered ineffective.

"Drill Peck!" Falkner commanded.

And, before Poppy or Chinchou knew it, Chinchou was taken out of the battle after being hit with an extreme Drill Peck attack.

"Chinchou is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "Dodrio is the winner!"

Poppy called Chinchou back into its Pokébal, smiled, and said, "Great job, Chinchou. Take a good rest, you really deserve it."

"Go, Hannah!" Poppy hollered, tossing out her next Pokémon.

Her favorite Mareep, the one with the purple ribbon and silver bell tied around its neck, emerged on her end. Poppy's friends, who'd just met Hannah the Mareep before the match, nodded in approval.

"Okay, Dodrio, jump again!" Falkner called. As his Pokémon launched itself into the air, he added, "And use Quick Attack back down on the ground!"

"Cotton Spore, Hannah!" Poppy called.

"Cotton Spore?" Rose asked, as Hannah launched the attack.

"Mhm," Gage nodded. "Cotton Spore slows down the opponent. That's smart on Poppy's part - she's reducing Dodrio's speed."

Just as Gage said, Dodrio's speed was extremely low compared to what it had been before the Cotton Spore. Falkner clenched his fist, as he saw this.

"Okay, Dodrio, Drill Peck!" he called.

"Thunder wave, Hannah!" called Poppy.

Hannah, who'd never really been in a battle before, was paralyzed in fear as Dodrio rampaged towards her. She was so paralyzed with fear that she let the Drill Peck attack make contact with her, causing a lot of damage.

"Hannah, you've got to give it a Thunder Wave!" Poppy hollered, trying to save her Pokémon from further injury.

It took her a minute, but Hannah finally mustered up the courage to launch the attack. Dodrio quaked in the electric attack, and fell to the ground.

"You've got to get up, Dodrio!" yelled Falkner. "Show everyone how tough you are!"

To Poppy's surprise, Dodrio managed to get up, but, within a few seconds, it fell again, finally passed out.

"Dodrio is unable to battle!" called the referee. "Mareep is the winner!"

As Falkner recalled and praised his Pokémon, Poppy praised, "Amazing, Hannah! You're doing amazing!"

"Just wait until you see my last Pokémon," Falkner said. Chucking out his final PokéBall, he called, "Come on out, Pidgeot!"

Then, just about the biggest Pidgeot that Poppy had ever seen emerged, ready to battle.

"Okay, Hannah, give it some thunder!" Poppy commanded.

"Fly, Pidgeot!" Falkner called.

Pidgeot obeyed, and effectively avoided the electric attack by flying out of reach. Poppy clamped her jaw, trying to think on her feet.

"Now, dive, and use Wing Attack!" Falkner called.

Hannah, who was already weak from Dodrio's Drill Peck, was knocked out cold by Pidgeot's Wing Attack.

"Mareep is unable to battle!" announced the referee. "Pidgeot is the winner!"

Now, Poppy was really trying to think, after recalling Hannah and thanking her. She tried to think of which Pokémon she could use next. There was Dratini, but the only attack that it had effective against Flying-types was its Thunder Wave, which could either be ultra effective, or barely work at all. There was Clefairy, but Clefairy wasn't really suited for battle yet. It had Metronome, but that wasn't reliable either. So, Poppy had her last resort - Chikorita. Sure, Grass-types were weak against Flying-types, but a Flying-type had just taken out her Hannah, which gave her some hope. And, Chikorita was one of the strongest members of her team. It was worth a shot…

"Go, Chikorita!" Poppy called, tossing out her last PokéBall.

"Chikorita?" Falkner chuckled. "Bad choice. Don't you know that Grass-types are weak against Flying-types? Oh well, guess you'll have to learn the hard way."

Poppy clenched her fist, annoyed with his petty insults, and called, "Razor Leaf, Chikorita!"

"Chiko!" the Pokémon exclaimed, sending out the attack.

Pidgeot flew into the air, dodging the attack with ease, which only enraged and inspired Poppy and her Pokémon even more.

"Quick Attack, Pidgeot!" Falkner called. "And keep it up!"

Poppy watched, feeling the pain that Chikorita had to endure. It couldn't do anything against the attacks from Pidgeot.

"Vine Whip!" she called, trying to think of a strategy.

"Fly up and dodge!" Falkner countered. Pidgeot did, swiftly and easily avoiding Chikorita's vines. "Now, Wing Attack!"

"Try to dodge, Chikorita!" Poppy suggested.

Chikorita tried, but Pidgeot was too fast, and had too much of an advantage from the sky. Poppy winced for Chikorita, realizing that it was really getting hurt. She thought it was over, when, something spectacular started to happen that took everyone in the Gym by surprise.

Chikorita started to glow.

It was evolving.

"Bayleef!" exclaimed the new Bayleef that was formerly Chikorita.

"Wow, Chikorita!" Poppy exclaimed with a beam. "You're Bayleef now!"

"Bay, Bay!" the Pokémon grinned back at its Trainer.

And then, Poppy had it. She'd been so inspired by her Pokémon's evolution that she finally formulated a plan.

"Okay, Bayleef, Sweet Scent, go!" Poppy hollered enthusiastically.

Falkner watched, surprised, as Pidgeot started to descend, attracted to the Sweet Scent.

"Pidgeot, fly up!" he yelled, to no avail. Pidgeot was far too attracted to the smell to even hear him.

"Tie that Pidgeot up with a Vine Whip!" Poppy added. Bayleef obeyed, wrapping Pidgeot up securely with its vines. "Now, send it flying!"

"Bay!" the Pokémon exclaimed, as it body-slammed Pidgeot down onto the Gym Floor.

"Solar Beam!" Poppy called.

"You've got to get up, Pidgeot!" Falkner hollered.

It didn't do any good. Pidgeot's wing had gotten hurt when it collided with the ground, and couldn't even get up. Meanwhile, Bayleef launched an extremely powerful Solar Beam that was a direct hit, and completely knocked Pidgeot out.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle!" stated the referee. "The winner is the challenger, Poppy of Rowan Town, and her Bayleef!"

"Pidgeot, are you okay?" Falkner asked, seriously concerned as he ran to the aid of his Pokémon. The Pokémon nodded as Falkner lifted it into his arms. "Good. You fought a great battle."

"Bayleef!" Poppy praised, as she ran to her Pokémon. The newly evolved Grass-type tackled her to the ground in a hug, licking and nuzzling her face, as she laughed and added, "You're amazing, Bayleef. Absolutely amazing! I love you!"

"Bay, Bay!" the Pokémon replied joyfully, as Poppy's friends cheered for her victory.

Falkner approached her, offering her a hand to help her up, which she took gratefully.

"Here's your Zephyr Badge," he told her, handing her the silver-winged badge. "You deserve it, Poppy. It was an honor to battle you."

"Thanks, Falkner," she smiled, examining the badge in her palm. "It was really great battling you, too. I learned so much from this experience."

They shook, and Poppy ran back to her friends, who all congratulated her and cheered for her. With Bayleef and Dratini at her side, Poppy leapt into the air, and exclaimed, "Sweet! I got my first badge! I got my Zephyr Badge!"

And, another day set on our four heroes. A successful day had passed. Chikorita evolved into Bayleef, and helped Poppy earn her first badge. Things could only get better from here on out.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy & Hannah (Mareep - typically stays at home)**

**GAGE's current team:**

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar**


	12. Chapter 12

**I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!**

**Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!**

* * *

The next morning, the trio woke up in the Pokémon Center, where they had spent the night yet again. Poppy left the Pokémon she had used in the battle in the care of Nurse Joy so they could recover, and had just picked them up in the lobby after the quartet had breakfast. Now, she was calling Mitchell again so she could send Hannah back.

"Good morning, sis," Mitchell greeted from his laboratory. "How'd the Gym Battle go?"

"How do you think it went?" she asked playfully, sticking out her new badge so that he could see it.

"Great!" Mitchell praised.

"Thanks," she grinned, flashing a peace sign. "Anyway, I'm gonna send Hannah back. I'm sure she's missing all her other Mareep friends."

"Alright," Mitchell nodded. Poppy placed the PokéBall into the Transporter, and when Mitchell received it, he flashed it for her to see, saying, "Got her!"

"Oh, by the way, my Chikorita evolved into a Bayleef yesterday!" she told him.

"That's great!" he smiled. The two were suddenly distracted when one of the lab Pokémon, a Wobbuffet, starting knocking a lot of the lab equipment over. Mitchell sighed, "Well, I've got to go back to the lab."

"Okay, see you!"

With that, the two siblings both hung up on their ends of the video phone. Mitchell returned to chasing his Wobbuffet through the lab, and Poppy returned to her group of friends, who were ready to head out of the Pokémon Center.

Flipping through a guidebook, Gage suggested, "Hey, do you guys wanna go check out the Sprout Tower today? It's a pretty famous landmark here in Johto."

"Sure, sounds great!" Rose agreed. "As long as we can find a restaurant along the way!"

Elliot, Gage and Poppy grumbled. All Rose cared about was eating.

"Don't worry Rose, we're not gonna let you starve," Elliot joked, putting a playful arm around her shoulders. "So let's get a move on. I wanna see this tower."

"Great!" Gage grinned.

And, our four heroes left the Pokémon Center, after thanking Nurse Joy. As usual, Lily was travelling in Rose's arms. Deino walked by Elliot's side, and Elliot had to get him back on track, since he'd go off chomping at something every so often. Gage's Pokémon were all resting in their PokéBalls. And, though Poppy didn't notice, Clefairy had let itself out of its PokéBall and had its ears and eyes poking out of her backpack, watching the passing scenery.

After walking for about an hour or so, the quartet arrived at the Sprout Tower. They were all in awe of the beautiful old building before them, and couldn't wait to go inside. They all nearly sprinted up the stairs that led inside, and as they made it through the door, Rose ran head on into another girl.

The girl looked about Rose's age. Her blue hair was cut short and worn beneath a ball cap. Her t-shirt was black and had a Pikachu printed on it, in contrast to her white jeans, which were held up by a belt full of PokéBalls. A purple bag was slung hastily over one of her shoulders, and a Pokémon stood faithfully by her side.

"Thanks," Rose muttered, as the other girl helped her up. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," the other girl shrugged with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Should've watched where I was going. Anyway, I'm Amy. Amy Kane."

"I'm Rose Wood," Rose replied, as they shook hands. "And these are my friends, Poppy, Gage and Elliot."

"Nice to meet you!" chimed in the rest of the group, flashing smiles and peace signs.

Then, Rose turned her attention to the Pokémon standing by Amy's side, her eyes going starry, along with her lunatic face that overcame her around Grass-type Pokémon, as she asked, "What kind of Pokémon is that?"

"This is Gallade," Amy introduced. "He's one of my best pals. We've been together since I was seven."

"Oh wow," Rose mused, clutching her hands together as she stared dreamily at the Pokémon. "He's wonderful. Grass-types are just the best!"

"Oh," Amy chuckled, scratching at the back of her head. "Gallade isn't a Grass-type."

"What?!" Rose inquired, as if her whole world just shattered.

"Hm," Elliot wondered.

He pulled out his PokéDex for more information, and it said: "Gallade, the Blade Pokémon, and the evolved form of Kirlia. Gallade extends its elbows as if they were swords, and when protecting someone, it fights fiercely."

"That's right," Amy nodded, approving of the PokéDex's information. "He's a Psychic-type and Fighting-type. But that's okay, Rose, I can see how you'd think he was a Grass-type."

Gage piped up, saying, "Well, our Rose here is out to be the world's greatest Grass-type Pokémon Trainer. She's crazy about all those Grass Pokémon."

"Wow, that's really cool, Rose!" Amy grinned. Changing the subject, she asked, "So, have you guys ever been to the Sprout Tower before?"

"Nope," Poppy replied. "This is our first time."

"Well," Amy started, leading the group towards the wobbly pole in the middle. "It's called the Sprout Tower because the wiggly beam here reminds people of a Bellsprout - it wiggles and wobbles, but it doesn't fall, and it's strong, supporting the whole tower, y'know?"

"Wow," Poppy mused, looking at the beam central to the tower. "That's pretty amazing."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed.

"And it's like a Bellsprout!" Rose squealed, her manic demeanor returning. "This is all a big, beautiful metaphor for an adorable little Grass-type!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice boomed, "And soon enough, it'll be _our _big, beautiful metaphor!"

Looking up, the quartet groaned as they saw it was Rattata of Team Rocket who'd spoken. He and his other idiotic cohorts were on the top of the beam, laughing maniacally as Venomoth and Poliwrath were attempting to saw the Sprout Beam off.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Amy hollered, clearly angry. "That's not yours to take!"

"Clearly it is, little girl!" Trixie hollered in response. "We're Team Rocket, anything we can get our hands on is ours for the taking, including that tough-looking Pokémon by your side!"

Thomas proceeded to fire a net gun at Gallade, which had it effectively trapped.

"Gallade!" Amy shrieked, turning her attention to try and free Gallade from the net.

"No use, brat!" Rattata yelled. "Ain't nothin' that can break through that net!"

"Please," grumbled Poppy, as she pulled out a PokéBall, and called, "Go, Bayleef!"

"Bayleef?!" Team Rocket inquired all at once.

"Hmph," Thomas mused. "I guess the brat's annoying little Chikorita must've evolved."

"Bayleef, use Razor Leaf to get Gallade out of that net!" Poppy called.

"Bay!" agreed the Pokémon. In one swift attack, Bayleef had freed Gallade from the net.

"I thought you said that net was indestructible?!" screeched Trixie, clearly angry.

"I thought it was!" Thomas whimpered, cowering from his steaming partner. "I paid top dollar for it!"  
"You mean you wasted more of our money on this junk?!" Rattata hollered. "You're the reason why we're goin' broke, Thomas!"

"I'm sorry!" he cried.

"Hmph, time to finish these losers off," Elliot concluded. "Deino, use Dragon Pulse on those Team Rocket runts!"

Deino wailed and did as told, causing Team Rocket to go flying out of the roof yet again.

"We're flying off again!" they screeched, as they soared off over the horizon with Venomoth and Poliwrath.

"Thank you guys, so much," Amy said sincerely, as she helped Gallade to his feet.

"Not a problem," Poppy assured her, calling Bayleef back into its PokéBall. "Those losers are always after us, trying to steal our Pokémon."

"Well, where are you headed next?" Amy inquired after a few minutes had passed.

"We're going to Azalea Town, for our next Gym Battles," Gage told her. "And for Rose's next Contest...except, our guidebook doesn't really tell us how to get there in clear terms…"

"Oh, Gallade and I can help you out there!" Amy piped up. "We're on our way to Azalea Town for our Gym Battle, too. And I know the easiest way to get there, through the mountains. I can show you guys, if you want."

"That'd be great!" the quartet grinned.

And so, another day passed. Amy and Gallade were joining the quartet, to guide them to Azalea Town, and they'd defeated Team Rocket yet again, and, in the process, helped protect and preserve the famous Sprout Tower.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy**

**GAGE's current team:**

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop, Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13, wow! This chapter offers a change of pace, and a change of character for some characters. Sorry if some of you don't like it...but I hope you will :)**

**And, as always, ****I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!**

**Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!**

* * *

Before they knew it, the quartet and Amy found themselves in the midst of a blizzard on the mountain. They were all shivering, rubbing their arms for warmth, and had recalled all their Pokémon into their PokéBalls for their own safety. Luckily, just as the five of them thought they were about to freeze to death, Officer Jenny rode in on a snowmobile.

"Kids!" she called through the storm. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah!" they all hollered in response.

"Just really cold!" Rose added.

"Okay!" Officer Jenny yelled, skidding to a halt in the snow before them. "Hop on, kids, and I'll get you back to the village to warm up!"

"Thanks!" they replied in unison, as they squished onto the back of Jenny's snowmobile.

To their relief, it wasn't too long before Officer Jenny took them to a lodge-style Pokémon Center, where she and Nurse Joy gave them warm blankets and snow parkas and mugs of hot chocolate. They were comfy on an L-shaped couch in front of a fire that warmed them up nicely. It was certainly a welcome change from the blizzard raging outside. The kids were also grateful that Nurse Joy took in their Pokémon to treat.

Nurse Joy gave the kids permission to turn on the TV that hung over the fireplace, which they did. Rose found a channel that was showing a Pokémon Contest from the Hoenn region, which she was intensely interested in. She explained to everyone that Hoenn was the region where Pokémon Contests originated. She didn't stop there - she, in fact, explained every aspect of the Contest to the others, to the point where they were ready to smack her in the head. Or, at least, Elliot, Gage and Poppy were ready to smack her in the head. Amy didn't know her well enough to be annoyed by her never-silent mouth.

However, even Rose shut up when a certain someone walked into the room.

It was Felix.

He seemed just as surprised to see them, as they were to see him, as he asked, "What're you losers doing here?"

"What're _you_ doing here?" Gage countered defensively.

"I'm on a little ski vacation," Felix replied. "Since I already got four more badges since we last met."

"_What?!"_ Gage inquired, shocked and slightly outraged.

"Oh, chill out, Geek," Felix brushed off, brushing his hair from his face. "You must have, like, what, four badges by now?"

Gage didn't respond, he only stared furiously at his rival, as Poppy and Elliot restrained him from lunging at Felix.

"So, what about that battle you promised me?" Poppy piped up.

"Not now," Felix replied, brushing her off as well. Now, Poppy looked angry, while Felix only looked out the window and remarked, "Huh, it stopped snowing."

With that, he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Enraged, Poppy leapt up, grabbing her backpack. She mindlessly thought that her PokéBalls were still in there, when in fact, she'd just forgotten that they were with Nurse Joy.

"What gives?!" Poppy hollered at Felix.

He was standing in silence on the edge of the mountain, looking out over the view, as the chilly wind blew through his disheveled hair, hands in the pockets of the borrowed snow jacket he wore. He was also ignoring Poppy, or so it seemed.

"Hey!" Poppy yelled, even louder now. Now, Felix was looking at her, amused, but just slightly, as she asked, "Why won't you battle me? You promised me we'd battle next time we met!"

"Well, I'm just not in the mood," he shrugged. "And I don't think you're ready."

"I'm not _ready_?!" she repeated, furious.

And, because she was so furious that she literally lunged at Felix, the icy ground crumbled beneath them, and they fell in an avalanche of ice and snow to the ground below. Rubbing their heads after the fall, they looked around, sitting up in the snow. Apparently, they'd fallen in some sort of gap between the side of the mountain and a glacier. There was no noticeable way to get up onto the mountain, or onto the glacier.

Most likely, they thought, they were stuck.

"Now, why'd you do that?!" Felix asked, frustrated.

"Because you were being a jerk!" Poppy replied. "If you had just agreed to battle me, we wouldn't be stuck!"

"You're not ready to battle me!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because I know!"

"Wow, original answer!"

After going on like that for some time, the two stood opposite each other, facing opposite directions. Their arms were crossed, and they both looked angry and frustrated, as they stared in two different ways.

Poppy was the first to break. With a light sigh, she dropped her arms, and turned to Felix, saying, "Look, I'm sorry. I was just mad. But we can't just stand here and be made at each other. We've got to at least try and find a way out."

Although he hated to say it, Felix replied, "You're right."

"Y'know, maybe if you get your Charizard out, we can ride it back up the mountain," Poppy suggested.

Felix groaned, and responded, "That'd be great, if I hadn't left all my PokéBalls with Nurse Joy."

Poppy then started fumbling around her backpack, mumbling, "Maybe if I...oh...shoot, I left all my Pokémon with Nurse Joy, too."

"Well, then I guess we're on our own," Felix concluded.

"Mhm," Poppy nodded. Stepping towards Felix, she extended a hand, and said, "While we're here, let's be on good terms. We're both stuck, and we've both got to help each other out of here."

"Agreed," Felix nodded, and they shook. "So, which way do you want to try first?"

"That way," Poppy suggested, pointing to the right.

"Alright," Felix nodded, and they were off.

Meanwhile, back up on the mountain, Elliot, Gage, Rose, Amy, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy were all shouting for Poppy and Felix. All of Poppy's Pokémon had released themselves to help aid the search effort.

It'd been a good half an hour since they'd seen the two go outside, and they were starting to worry. Officer Jenny warned them about the fierce winds and unstable grounds. She said a lot of the ground was actually just ice, and could crumble beneath you if you stepped in just the right place, or that the winds would intensify out of nowhere and blow you away. Both of these facts caused everyone on top of the mountain to fear and worry about what had happened to Poppy and Felix.

"I hope we find them," Officer Jenny sighed, after they'd been searching for quite some time. Looking at the sky, she observed, "The sun's starting to set."

"Oh no," Nurse Joy chimed in. "It'll get really cold when it gets dark."

Down in the rift between the glacier and the mountain, Poppy and Felix were struggling to walk against the wind. They were cold, and plenty tired by now, and it was nearly dark, and they had no idea how to get back to the Pokémon center or out of the rift they were stuck in.

"Looks like we're here for the night," Felix sighed. "We should find shelter and stay the night. Maybe a good night's sleep will help us find a way out in the morning."

"Okay," Poppy agreed. "What about that little cave over there?"

Felix agreed, and the two lodged in a tiny cave in the side of the mountain. Poppy lit a little fire with the spare firewood and matches she had in her backpack, and then rolled out her sleeping back. Felix sat, knees to his chest, in the corner of the cave, while Poppy tied her hair into a braid, which she pulled through the back of her baseball cap, which was actually worn forwards, for once. She tossed the last two pieces of spare wood she had onto the fire, before slipping into her sleeping bag, staring out into the dark, cold, land before them.

Felix stared at her, still shivering. It was better to be stuck with her down here than Gage, or the obnoxious little girl they travelled with, or the Trainer he'd beaten with the Deino. If it had to be one of them, Felix supposed she was the best one to be stranded with.

"Cold?" Poppy inquired, rolling in her sleeping back to face him. Her face was just visible with the illumination from the fire.

"Yeah," Felix nodded, teeth chattering.

"Get in," Poppy said.

"What?" Felix inquired. He wondered if he was actually hearing her right.

"I said, get in the sleeping bag," she repeated, as she got out of it. "You're colder than I am."

"No, Poppy, I can't do that," Felix responded. "Then you'll freeze to death."  
"Fine," she sighed, with a slight eye roll. "We'll share. Get in here and warm up."

She wriggled back inside of the sleeping bag, and he asked, "You don't...you don't mind? You won't feel cramped?"

"Please," she countered. "I'm usually cramped in here with Dratini and Clefairy. You'll be nothing compared to those two. Just get in."

"Oh," he mumbled. "Okay."

He obeyed her and got inside the sleeping bag. Once again, they were facing opposite directions, except now they were directly back to back. Felix found that she was right. It was much warmer inside of the sleeping bag, partially because the material blocked the cold, and partly because he was feeling Poppy's body heat combining with his own. He didn't really know how he felt about sharing the surprisingly spacious sleeping bag with her.

In the midst of all the chaos of being lost in a blizzard, Felix found himself confused about how he felt about his rival's travelling companion. She was headstrong, stubborn, intelligent, and now, she was being extremely kind. It was selfless of her to offer the sleeping bag to him, and kind of her to offer a peace treaty in the first place. If it wasn't for her and her preparedness, with the spare wood, matches, and sleeping bag, he might've been a complete icicle by now.

"Poppy?" he called out quietly in the dim light of the cave. He wanted to thank her.

"Hey, Poppy?" he tried again.

Since he got no response, he rolled over on the sleeping bag, and found himself face-to-face with a snoring Poppy. She was kinda cute when she slept, if he had to say so himself. Even the snoring and drooling didn't look that bad on her.

"Thanks, Poppy," Felix mumbled, before closing his own eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**  
**Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy**

**GAGE's current team:**

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team: **

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick, Gligar**

**FELIX's current team (in case you were wondering):**

**Charizard, Cloyster, Victreebell, Electabuzz, Hitmonlee, Graveler**


	14. Chapter 14

**I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!**

**Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!**

* * *

The next morning, the sun rose, shining its light into the cave, waking Felix up. As he came into consciousness, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. Upon glancing over, he noticed that Poppy was no longer in the sleeping bag, where he'd last seen her. Glancing in the other direction, he saw her tending to a pot over the fire.

"You're awake," Poppy remarked sarcastically. "Finally."

"Have you been up long?" he asked.

"Long enough to melt snow in this pot, dig out the hot chocolate mix from my backpack, and make hot chocolate," she responded. She then poured the pot of hot chocolate into two tin mugs, and offered him one, asking, "Here, want some?"

"Sure," he nodded, accepting the cup she offered him. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," she shrugged.

Back up on the mountain, everyone else had gotten back to searching for Felix and Poppy. Officer Jenny had given everyone snowmobiles to ride, so that they had a better chance of finding the two. Nurse Joy had a snowmobile, Amy and Rose and Gallade shared one, and Elliot and Gage shared the other one.

"I just don't know where they could've gone!" Elliot said, as he sat on the back of the snowmobile Gage was driving. "They just went outside, it's not like they could've gone so far!"

"Yeah, and we better find them soon!" Gage replied. "I'd hate being stuck with Felix for this long!"

By this time, Felix and Poppy had picked up their little campsite in the cave, and started to look for a way back up the mountain yet again. They'd barely made it a few feet away from the cave, when another icy wind swirled up around them. They both raised their arms to cover their faces and eyes, since the wind caused a lot of snow and ice shards to fly into the air as well.

Suddenly, they found themselves actually being raised into the wind with the snow and ice. They flew through the air, feeling all the cold air and snow and ice, and before they knew it, they hit the ground, and they hit the ground hard, lodging themselves in the snow.

"What kinda wind was that?" Poppy grumbled, rubbing her head as she sat up in the snow.

"I have no idea," Felix replied as he did the same.

The two opened their eyes, seeing that they were in a completely different spot. They were no longer in the rift between the glacier and the mountain. They were on the mountain now, apparently, but nowhere near the Pokémon Center. They were in a snowy field, enclosed by a wooden fence, where a little cabin with smoke puffing out of the chimney laid to one side. And, there were dozens and dozens of little brown, furry Pokémon sniffing around in the snow. Poppy recognized them from the last Contest she'd watched.

"Wow," she muttered. "Look at all these Swinub."

"Swinub?" Felix asked.

He pulled out his PokéDex, which said: "Swinub, the Pig Pokémon. The Swinub has an extremely keen sense of smell, which it usually uses to find food."

"But what're all these Swinub doing here?" Felix inquired, confused.

"Why, they're my Swinub!" came a friendly voice. The two kids looked up, and saw an older woman with a large smile, bundled up in a snowsuit standing over them. "I'm Gale, and you two youngins seemed to have stumbled right into my Ice Ranch!"

"Ice Ranch?" Poppy and Felix questioned in unison.

"That's right," Gale nodded, still smiling. "I raise all kinds of Ice-type Pokémon up here on the mountain. I have lots of Swinub, as you can see, which I raise from eggs and sell to trainers. Over there in the pond, I have some Dewgong, Cloyster and Lapras. There are some Smoochum over there, and some Delibird that like to fly around up here, and some Snorunt that run around, a few Sneasel somewhere here, and some Eevee that I hope to evolve into Glaceon!"

"Wow!" Poppy exclaimed, coming to her feet. "That's pretty amazing, Gale!"

"Well thank you, sweetie," she replied. "And what's your name?"

"I'm Poppy, from Rowan Town," she informed Gale. "And this is my friend Felix. Sorry that we intruded...we didn't mean to, we just kinda...landed here."

"Oh, it's okay," Gale grinned. "I believe you. I've been up on this here mountain for years, and I know these winds can really sweep ya off your feet. They've done that to me many a time. Why don't you two come inside and warm up? I've got warm milk and chocolate chip cookies with your name on 'em!"

"Wow, thank you!" Poppy and Felix replied in unison.

They followed old Gale into her little cabin, which was rustic and cozy and undeniably warm. Gale set them up at the small table by the fire, giving the each a blanket to wrap up in, and gave them the promised milk and cookies. As they ate, they noticed all the Pokémon that were in Gale's house. There were a few little Eevee curled up in a Pokémon bed by the fire. A Delibird napped on a bird perch in the corner by the door. A couple of Smoochum cuddled on the couch.

But, in one dark corner of the little cabin, two tiny Pokémon were curled up together, as if they were scared of all the other Pokémon. One was a itty bitty Swinub that looked more whitish-gray than it did brown, and the other was an Eevee that seemed pint-sized compared to any other Eevee Poppy had ever seen.

"Oh, I see you found our little misfits," Gale grinned, as she caught Poppy's glance. Poppy looked up at her, confused, and Gale explained, "Those two have always been our little misfits. The other Swinub don't like little Susie there - that's what I've nicknamed her - because of her odd color. And the other Eevee don't like that tiny one, on account of her pint size, you see. So, those two stick together, because none of the other Pokémon'll have anything to do with them."

Poppy sighed, feeling extreme sympathy towards the two misfit Pokémon. She grabbed something from her backpack, stood, and made her way to the two Pokémon in the corner. They looked at her out of confusion, and maybe even slight fear, but she gave them the warmest smile either Pokémon ever did see, as she kneeled down to their level.

"Here," she said, extending a handful of Pokémon food. "Want a snack?"

The two Pokémon just looked up at her, still wary and unsure of whether or not to trust her.

Poppy smiled again, only with even more warmth in her smile this time, as reassured them. "Please, eat! I want you guys to have a snack."

Hesitantly, the two Pokémon took their first bites. As soon as they sampled it, they chowed the rest of it down, cherishing each delicious bite. Poppy giggled, seeing she'd made the two Pokémon happy with the little snack she provided for them.

"Hi there," she said. "I'm Poppy."

Now that she'd gained the trust of the two Pokémon, they allowed her to pet them, which they immediately realized was a great decision. Poppy gave great Pokémon massages, as they quickly found out. They liked being bet and they liked her so much that they actually leapt into her lap, knocking her back onto the floor as they both showered her face with loving kisses, and she erupted in giggles.

"Wow, you must really have a gift with Pokémon, young lady," Gale grinned. "Those two don't even show me that kind of affection!"

"Yeah, Poppy's great with Pokémon," Felix affirmed.

"I can see that," Gale nodded.

Poppy grinned in thanks as she stood, holding Susie the Swinub in one arm and Eevee in the other.

"Well, while we're here, is there anything we can do to help you out around the ranch?" Poppy inquired.

"Well, of course there is, if you wanna work!" Gale responded, leaping to her feet. "You can help me feed the Pokémon!"

Before Poppy or Felix knew it, Gale had thrusted pails of Pokémon food into each of their hands, and guided them back out into the frigid weather. Susie the Swinub and Eevee were close behind. They wanted to follow Poppy, because they'd already taken a liking to her, but they were still a bit shy.

Gale led them to the pond, where she instructed them on how to throw the food out to Lapras, Cloyster and Dewgong. Then, they dropped the food off for the Sneasel, and scattered food for the Swinub in the field. They went on to feed all the other Pokémon that Gale had on the ranch, and Poppy decided to stay outside to play with Eevee and Susie the Swinub, by throwing snowballs to them. Susie the Swinub sent them back to her by bouncing them off her nose, and Eevee batted them back to Poppy using its tail.

The two Pokémon were having one of the best times of their little lives. They weren't used to other Pokémon, let alone people, paying this much attention to them and being so nice. To Susie the Swinub and Eevee, Poppy was some sort of lovely and kind miracle.

However, their playdate was suddenly cut short when a snowmobile whipped by, and its rider grabbed Poppy by the waist. Susie the Swinub and Eevee were stunned and taken aback.

"Not you losers again!" Poppy screeched, as she tried to wriggle free from the metal claw that had a grip on her waist.

Skidding the snowmobile to a stop, Rattata hollered, "Just give us your PokéBalls and we'll let you go!"

"I don't have them!" she screamed, kicking and punching as she tried to get out. "They're all at the Pokémon Center!"

"Don't lie!" Trixie yelled at her "You have no way out, just give 'em up!"

"I'm not lying!" Poppy screeched. "Just let me out of this stupid contraption of yours!"

"Give us the PokéBalls first!" Trixie commanded again, going into rage-mode.

"I DON'T HAVE THEM!" Poppy repeated, just as enraged.

"Y'know, Trix, I don't think she has them," Thomas muttered to his partner.

"Well if she doesn't have them, she'll take us to them!" Rattata piped up. "Let's go, brat!"

As Rattata started up the snowmobile, Felix and Gale sprinted out of the house to see what all the yelling was about. They gasped when they saw Poppy, who'd been captured, and Felix explained to Gale just who Team Rocket really was.

Then, Susie the Swinub and Eevee nodded at each other, and went at Team Rocket's snowmobile with a double Tackle Attack. It was enough to knock Poppy free, and break the snowmobile, all in one swift motion. Now, Poppy was free, and mad, and Team Rocket was scared.

Before Poppy, Felix or Gale could say anything, Susie and Eevee stepped out in front of Poppy in a protective manner. Susie shot the three with an Ice Beam, freezing them in a solid block of ice. Eevee then stepped in, using a strong Swift attack, which shattered the ice and then sent Team Rocket soaring through the air.

"I told you the snowmobile was stupid!" Trixie hollered angrily.

"That doesn't matter now!" hollered Rattata. Then, with his two partners in crime yelling with him, they yelled, "We're flying away again!"

"Wow!" Poppy praised, allowing the two little Pokémon to leap into her arms. Hugging them, she added, "You two were great! Thank you so much, you saved me! You guys are amazing!"

Both Pokémon squealed with happiness as they nuzzled Poppy, as Gale stepped forward. She held out her hand to Poppy, with two PokéBalls in their small form, and seemed to be offering them to her.

"Huh?" Poppy muttered, confused as she held the two Pokémon.

"I want you to take these," Gale said to her. "These are Susie and Eevee's PokéBalls. I've never seen them take a liking to any other person or Pokémon like they've taken a liking to you. I want you to be their Trainer, Poppy."

"Really?" Poppy asked, completely honored and taken aback.

"Yes, of course," Gale nodded with a smile.

"Would you two like that?" Poppy inquired, looking down at the two Pokémon she was holding.

The two squealed with joy yet again, hugging her even more, as if it was their way of saying yes.

"Well, then, it's a deal!" Poppy exclaimed. "Susie and Eevee, you're coming with me!"

Just then, a brigade of snowmobiles came in from over a snowbank. They were being ridden by Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Elliot, Gage, Rose and Amy, who were all overjoyed at the sight of Felix and Poppy.

"Kids!" Officer Jenny hollered as everyone hopped off their snowmobiles. "We're so glad you're both okay!"

"Yeah, we're great," Poppy nodded. "Gale here took us in and warmed us up."

"I'm so glad we found you!" Rose exclaimed maniacally, giving Poppy a choking hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Rose," Poppy choked.

Everyone laughed. Another day began to set on our four heroes, after they'd all been reunited. And, two more Pokémon had been added to Poppy's team.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy, (Susie) Swinub & Eevee**

**GAGE's current team: **

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur)**

**ELLIOT's current team:**

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick & Gligar**

**FELIX's current team: **

**Charizard, Cloyster, Victreebell, Electabuzz, Hitmonlee & Graveler **

**Keep those reviews coming! Thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Again, this chapter is a little bit of a detour...Rose goes on her own little adventure, but you'll see. Hope you enjoy! :)**

**As always, I appreciate all the support and submitted OC's! OC's are still wanted, feel free to submit!**

**Also, I really love and appreciate reviews, they help to give me motivation to write more!**

* * *

"Hyper Beam, Snorlax, let's go!" called Gage.

"Fly up and dodge, Gligar!" Elliot countered.

The two Pokémon obeyed. They and their trainers were in the midst of a training battle, in a clear field they'd found. It was much nicer down here, now that they weren't in the snowy mountains.

While the two boys practiced Gym Battling, the two girls were off to a side practicing for Contests. Of course, Rose was a Coordinator, but now Poppy was planning on entering the next Contest since Clefairy had seemed so interested in the last one they watched.

"Now, Poppy," Rose started to explain in an all-too-serious manner. "The goal of a Pokémon Contest is to showcase just how special your Pokémon is, and how beautiful they and their attacks can be. The first round is the round where you have to combine your Pokémon's attacks to create the most beautiful show possible."

"Okay," Poppy nodded. She had Clefairy in her arms, who was intently listening to Rose.

Leaning over, Rose smiled, as she spoke to Clefairy, saying, "So, Clefairy, can you show us some beautiful moves that could be used in a Contest?"

"Clefairy!" exclaimed the happy pink Pokémon as it leapt from Poppy's arms.

To both of the girls' surprise, it launched an attack of dazzling light that looked extremely beautiful.

"Woah," Rose mumbled, in complete awe. "What was that?"

"I think Clefairy just used Dazzling Gleam," Poppy replied.

Rose pulled out her PokéDex, which said: "Dazzling Gleam. This attack damages opposing Pokémon by emitting a powerful flash. It is a Fairy-type move."

"Wow!" Rose exclaimed. "That'll be fantastic in a Contest, Clefairy!"

"Clefairy!" Clefairy grinned, flashing a peace sign.

The girls continued practicing for their next Contest, and the boys were still practicing battling.

"Alright, Gligar, try X-Scissor!" called Elliot, trying to strategized as Gligar dodged Snorlax's Focus Punch.

"Gligar!" the purple Pokémon agreed.

"You know what to do, Snorlax!" Gage yelled.

"Snor!" the Pokémon agreed.

Gligar soared up in the air for preparation, then swooping in with its claws in position for the attack. It slammed right into Snorlax, scoring a direct hit. However, Gligar had flow right into Snorlax's belly, which caused it to bounce back into a tree forcefully, sliding down to the ground, injured.

"Now, Rollout!" Gage commanded.

Elliot winced, as the enormous Snorlax rolled over his already injured Gligar. After that, Gligar was totally unable to battle, so the boys called it off as Elliot sprinted to Gligar's aid.

"You okay, buddy?" Elliot inquired, lifting Gligar into his arms.

"Gligar!" the Pokémon nodded.

Within a minute, it seemed to have recovered, and knocked Elliot to the ground by hugging him harshly on the face.

"Okay, Gligar, I think you're great, too, but please get off of my face!" Elliot laughed, trying to pry the Pokémon off of him.

"That Gligar sure does like you," Rose giggled, as she, Lily, Poppy and Clefairy met back up with their companions. "Anyways, since we're all done training for now, can we get some lunch, _please?" _

Laughing, the rest of the group agreed, saying in unison, "Of course!"

So, the group prepared for lunch. Gage gathered some firewood, which Poppy and Elliot used to whip up a stew, while Rose set up the small camping table and chairs. When the stew was all ready, and the bowls of it had been placed out on the table for everyone, the quartet released their Pokémon.

Out came Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick, Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop, Flora, Buttercup, Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Susie and Eevee, joining Clefairy, Lily, Snorlax, Gligar and Deino, who were already out of their PokéBalls. The quartet's Team had grown a lot since everyone first met. Gage had caught Snorlax, who increased his team with it's sheer size. Elliot had caught Gligar, who'd given his team and advantage with its flying abilities. Rose had befriended and captured two more Grass-types, Flora, the Sunflora, and Buttercup, the Bulbasaur. And, Poppy was the first to fill up the six slots on her team - by capturing Chikorita, who was now Bayleef, and building strong bonds with Chinchou, Clefairy, Susie the Swinub, and Eevee. All of the Pokémon seemed healthy and happy and ready for their next battles and Contests.

"Ready to eat, everyone?" Poppy asked with a smile, as she pulled out cans of Pokémon food from her backpack.

All of the Pokémon responded loudly and happily, their own way of saying yes. With the help of the others, Poppy passed out bowls of Pokémon food to everyone, except for Snorlax. Gage had special food that Professor Oak sent him from Pallet Town that was specifically formulated for Snorlax, so that it'd be filled up instead of having to eat and eat and eat.

"I can't believe that all of these Pokémon are ours!" Rose squealed with delight, as she smiled out over all of the eating Pokémon. "I never imagined I'd be able to travel with all these beautiful Pokémon!"

"Well, I'm glad you're happy, Rose," grinned Poppy.

Rose opened her mouth to reply, when, suddenly, a rustling in the bushes and a small glimpse of a Pokémon completely stole her attention. In the flash of an eye, she recalled all her Pokémon, including Lily, and started off. Her manic expression and starry eyes returned, as she squealed and sprinted off in the direction of the Pokémon she'd seen.

"Think it's safe to say she saw some sort of Grass-type?" Elliot chuckled, with Gligar on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Gage sighed. "We better go see where she ran off to, before she gets herself in trouble."

They all called their Pokémon back in their PokéBalls. They'd finished eating anyways. Poppy was the first to sprint off after Rose, while the two boys pack up the campsite.

Rose fell to her knees in front of the Pokémon that she'd been chasing. She clutched her hands by her cheek, as her eyes glittered in admiration. The Pokémon she'd chased was now cornered into a tree, and had no means of escaping. So, the Grass-type only stared at the seemingly strange girl.

"Wow, you're so beautiful!" Rose told the Pokémon with the utmost sincerity. "Your petals have the most lovely pattern of spots that I've ever seen! They're so big and full and vibrant! You're the most lovely Vileplume I've ever seen!"

"Vileplume?" the Pokémon inquired, cocking its head out of confusion, and maybe even a bit of fear.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't hurt you," Rose said, acting more normally now as she tried to comfort the Pokémon. "I'm Rose, and I want to be the world's greatest Grass-type Trainer, and I think that you're just the greatest, most pretty Vileplume that I ever have seen."

"Plume," the Pokémon muttered. I backed up further into the tree, still seeming apprehensive.

"Hm," Rose mumbled. She fumbled around in her pocket, and pulled out a few pellets of Pokémon food, and offered it to Vileplume. "Here, want a little snack? This Pokémon food is special, I made just for dual Grass and Poison-types like yourself. My little Bulbasaur loves it, and I'm sure that you will too. Go on, give it a try."

Vileplume stepped forward, sniffing the pellets being offered by Poppy. It took it a minute, but once it tried the food, it couldn't get enough and soon ate the whole handful. When it was done eating, it was clear that Vileplume now trusted Rose, as it did its best to give her a hug with its stubby little arms as it smiled.

"Oh, wow, thank you!" came a new female voice.

As Rose stood to her feet, with Vileplume in her arms, she saw a girl in a jean shorts with a pink flowered tanktop. The girl had dirt-covered boots on her feet and gardening gloves on her hands. Her hair was tied back in a braid that was intertwined with flowers, and she wore a sun visor to keep the sun out of her blue eyes.

"Huh?" Rose mumbled.

"Hi there, I'm Lavender," the girl introduced herself, hastily shaking Rose's hand. "And this Vileplume is Tulip, and belongs to my Grandma."

"Wow, this is your Grandma's Vileplume?" Rose inquired. "It's great! And I'm Rose, by the way, and I want to be the world's greatest Grass-type Trainer."

"So, you must really love Grass Pokémon, huh?" Lavender giggled. After Rose nodded, Lavender continued, "My Grandma loves Grass-type Pokémon, too. She converted our whole house into one big greenhouse. We have all kinds of Grass Pokémon living with us, along with all the flowers and plants we raise."

"Wow," Rose mumbled in awe, her eyes once again overcome with stars. She was still holding Tulip the Vileplume as she added, "That sounds like an absolute paradise!"

"Why don't you come see it?" Lavender suggested. "We don't live too far from here, and my Grandma loves company. She'd especially like meeting someone as passionate about Grass-type Pokémon as she is!"

"Wow, thank you!" Rose squealed.

Like Lavender had said, it didn't take long for the two girls and Vileplume to arrive at the house. It was a big beautiful house, completely made out of glass, with plants and flowers of every imaginable hue and shade growing inside. Already, Rose saw tons of different Grass-type Pokémon, one of every kind imaginable.

Rose was in heaven.

"C'mon, Rose!" Lavender hollered over her shoulder, running towards the door. "You haven't seen anything yet!"

"Oh, wow!" Rose exclaimed. "This is just the best!"

Inside, Lavender gave Rose a grand tour of the greenhouse. Rose was completely slack-jawed and in complete awe as she walked through, seeing all the plants and flowers, and of course, the Grass-type Pokémon. She loved the Oddish and Gloom, the Bulbasaur, the Ivysaur, and the one enormous Venusaur, the Chikorita, Bayleef, and Meganium, the Tangela, and all the others that made their home in the wondrous greenhouse.

"Well, who do we have here, Lavender?" came the voice of Lavender's grandmother.

She was clearly elderly, but she still was beautiful, in an ethereal way, like her greenhouse.

"Oh, Grandma, this is Rose," Lavender introduced. "She found Tulip, and she loves Grass-type Pokémon, so I brought her over to show her around."

"Well, it's always a joy to meet another person who loves Grass Pokémon like I do, young lady," Lavender's grandma said with a smile, as she shook Rose's hand. "And you can call me Myrtle, Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Myrtle," Rose grinned. "You have such a beautiful house, and such beautiful Pokémon!"

"Thank you, young lady," Myrtle nodded. Bending over, she rubbed Tulip the Vileplume's petals, and said, "And thank you for finding Tulip. She's been with me for quite some time. I got Tulip when she was just a little Oddish and I was just a little girl. We trained together, and even won one of the Grand Festival Pokémon Contests. But, that was years okay, and we haven't entered a Pokémon Contest since I was knee high on a grasshopper. Lately, she's been running off a lot. I think she's gettin' antsy, since all she does is help me water plants."

"Wow," Rose replied. "Y'know, I'm training to become a Coordinator, too! I just competed in my first Contest not so long ago. And I want to become the world's greatest Grass-type Trainer!"

Chuckling, Myrtle stood up, and told Rose, "You remind me a lot of myself when I was a girl. I wanted to be the best Grass-type Trainer as well when I was young, but then I married and had my children, so I decided to open my own greenhouse and raise Grass Pokémon instead."

Outside, Team Rocket sat in a tree, peering in the greenhouse with their binoculars.

"Well, the little brat led us to Grass Pokémon paradise," Rattata commented. "I knew we shoulda kidnapped her!"

"We tried!" Thomas wailed. "But, as usual, we lost…"

"And we only lost because of that sour attitude of yours!" Trixie hollered at him, effectively scaring him. "So lose the tude and we'll have ourselves a brood of Grass Pokémon!"

Down below in the greenhouse, Lavender, Myrtle and Rose were sipping herbal tea in the midst of all the plants and Pokémon. They were chatting about how great Grass-types were, when, suddenly, Team Rocket crashed through the glass ceiling.

The humans jumped to their feet, as the Pokémon were startled. Immediately, Thomas started firing off his net gun, capturing Myrtle's Grass Pokémon by the dozen.

"Stop!" Lavender cried. "Who are you people, thinking you can steal our Pokémon?!"

"It's Team Rocket," Rose growled. "They're a bunch of dummies who always try to steal Pokémon. But don't worry, they never _actually_ steal Pokémon."

"Hey, we're trying our best!" whined Thomas.

"Give us those Pokémon!" Myrtle demanded.

"Never!" Trixie laughed maniacally.

"Oh yeah?" Rose taunted. Tossing out her PokéBall, she called, "Let's show 'em, Buttercup!"

"Bulba!" exclaimed Buttercup, emerging from its PokéBall.

"Use Razor Leaf, and free all the Pokémon!" called Rose.

"Bulbasaur!" Buttercup cried, as it obeyed orders.

With a few well-aimed Razor Leaf attacks, all of the grass Pokémon had been freed, and Team Rocket was scared, as usual.

"We're not giving up that easily!" Thomas yelled. "Go, Poliwrath! Use Water Gun!"

"Dodge, and use Vine Whip!" countered Rose. "Send that dumb frog flying!"

Buttercup obeyed and dodged the Water Gun, though it wouldn't have had much effect anyways. Then, Buttercup used its vines to wrap Poliwrath up tightly in the air, and then threw it forcefully back at Team Rocket. The impact caused them to go back flying through the hole they'd created in the roof of the greenhouse.

"We're flying off again!" they yelled.

"Great job, Buttercup," Rose grinned, as she recalled her Bulbasaur.

"Thank you, Rose," Myrtle said gratefully, as she bowed to the young girl. "Without you and your Bulbasaur, those fools would've taken all our lovely Grass-type Pokémon and plants."

"Yes, thank you," Lavender added, bowing as well.

"Don't worry about it," Rose replied humbly.

"Lavender, why don't you give Rose a gift to thank her," Myrtle said. Then, she whispered something in her granddaughter's ear, causing Lavender to sprint off into the trees.

"You really don't have to give me anything," Rose said.

"No, I want to give this to you," Myrtle responded. "I would only give this to a fellow lover of Grass Pokémon such as yourself."

Lavender returned moments later, with an egg case that contained a blue Pokémon egg with green markings towards the top. She handed it to Myrtle, who handed it to Rose.

"Wow!" Rose squealed, as she looked lovingly at the gg in her arms. Then, she sighed, and said, "I really can't accept this. I appreciate it and all, but I really can't."

"Of course you can, dear!" Myrtle insisted. "I won't let you move a muscle until you decide to take on that Pokémon egg."

"Well, if you put it that way…," Rose giggled, along with the other two humans. "Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem, dear!" Myrtle assured her, waving as Rose went out the front door of the greenhouse.

Panting, the other three of Rose's companions emerged from the forest, just in time. Rose walked towards them, leaving Lavender and Myrtle's greenhouse to fade away in the distance.

"Rose, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Elliot called.

"Yeah, where've you been?" Gage asked, as Rose and the egg came towards them. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he inquired, "And where the heck did you get that egg?!"

"Oh," Rose giggled nonchalantly. "Me and Bulbasaur saved some Pokémon from Team Rocket, and the owners of the Pokémon gave me the egg as a reward."

Gage groaned, mumbling, "Why is it so easy for her?"

"Cheer up, Gage," Poppy said, patting her friend on the back. "You'll catch another Pokémon soon enough."

Gage grumbled again, and Poppy turned her attention to Rose, asking, "Do you know what kind of Pokémon is in the egg, Rose?"

"No," Rose said, shaking her head. "All I know is that it's a Grass-type. But I don't care what it is, as long as it's healthy."

And so, another day sets on our heroes. After some much needed training, Rose had her own little adventure, which led to her making new friends, defeating Team Rocket, and acquiring a new egg for her team.

* * *

**POPPY's current team:**

**Dratini, Bayleef, Chinchou, Clefairy, Susie (Swinub) & Eevee**

**GAGE's current team:**

**Ivysaur, Raichu, Hitmontop & Snorlax**

**ROSE's current team:**

**Lily (Chikorita), Flora (Sunflora), Buttercup (Bulbasaur) & an unhatched egg**

**ELLIOT's current team: **

**Deino, Oshawott, Ferroseed, Litwick, Gligar**


End file.
